


Forgetful Possession

by TerraBrownWriter, xNinjaGurl50



Series: The FamILY RP (full of angst and ships) [5]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Amnesia, Angst, Bondage, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Possession, References to Depression, Roman gets captured, Sympathetic Deceit Sanders, and tortured, insecurities everywhere, poor bby, sorry..., the best snake jokes you've ever heard!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-24
Updated: 2018-10-27
Packaged: 2019-08-06 20:05:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 19
Words: 35,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16394222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TerraBrownWriter/pseuds/TerraBrownWriter, https://archiveofourown.org/users/xNinjaGurl50/pseuds/xNinjaGurl50
Summary: Patton wakes up from his coma, but things just aren't the same...And it only gets worse when a new player comes to town. But are they really new? Or have they been around for a while?(Warning this one gets DARK please be careful while reading. Blame Space, lol you can blame me too.-Terra)(Nah, you can 100% blame me. -Space)





	1. Chapter 1

A week as gone by Patton still in his coma. Nico as heal from his wounds and things have been peaceful for the most part. They took turns watching Patton, so Nemo could get a break, but Nemo still spent most of his time with Patton. 

 

Patton groan as he woke up. He looked around. _'When did I go to my room?'_ He looked at his hands. _'Why we're my hands bandage?’_ He moves his hands they didn't hurt. He removed the wrapping and looked at them. They looked fine, whatever happen has heal apparently. He looks some more and sees Deceit in his bed. _'Why is Deceit in my bed?'_ Patton blushes a little but shook it off. Something was wrong.

 

Nemo hums and tries to pull Patton closer in his half-asleep state. Patton pulls away not that he doesn't like it but it's not like he in a relationship with him. "Hey Dee, wake up." He gives a shoulder shake.

 

Nemo slowly looks up and sees Patton above him. It takes him a minute to become fully conscious before he remembers the last week's events. "PATTON!" He suddenly shoots up, grabbing the other and kissing him passionately.

 

Patton eyes widen, he pushes Deceit away. "Deceit what are you doing!?" He looks at him with confusion and shock. His heart racing, _'Something was definitely wrong.'_

 

Nemo sits there, staring at Patton, mouth hanging open in shock. He can't deny, that did hurt to have his love push him away, but he called him... "Deceit?" Nemo repeats carefully.

 

"Dee what’s going on? Why are you in my bed? Why did you kiss me?" He was getting scared, he didn't know what was going on.

 

Nemo blinks, trying to compose himself. "P-Patton... What- what's the last thing you remember?"

 

Patton took a deep breath and thought for a second. "We were in your room, you show us your Snakes. You were playing paino... that's about it." Patton shakes his head. "Deceit what's going on? I feel like I'm missing something important. You still didn't answer my questions."

 

Nemo's face goes pale. _'He's forgotten three weeks... He's forgotten three weeks...'_  Nemo doesn't notice when his body hits the mattress until instinct finally forces him to breathe. "He's forgotten three weeks." he whispers to himself, forgetting Patton was still there.

 

"Deceit what's wrong?" Patton puts a hand on his shoulder. "Hey buddy breath with me ok?"

 

Nemo's heart shatters and he starts crying at hearing Patton say 'Deceit' again. He curls up on himself, burying his face into his arms. Patton's right there, but- he's not  _his_  Patton.

 

Patton doesn't know what to do. "Logan! Roman! Virgil! I could use some help here!" 

 

Logan made his way in first. "Patt-" he looks at Nemo. "What happened?" 

 

"I don't know, I woke up with Deceit in my bed, then he kisses me and now he is crying, and I don't know what to do because he won't talk to me." 

 

Logan looks at him shock. "Patton..."

 

Virgil races in and sees Nemo crying and Patton- awake? But... Not comforting his boyfriend? Virgil shakes his head and makes his way to Nemo. "Shh... It's okay... Shh. Breathe, Nemo." Nemo just sobs louder and clings to Virgil.

 

Nico comes in in front of Roman and sees Patton awake, Nemo crying, and Virgil trying to comfort him. His eyes narrow a moment, wondering why Patton would let his boyfriend cry like that and not at least offering him a hug.

 

Patton sees Nico and points at him. "Who's that?" He so confused. _'Who this new guy? Why is Deceit crying? Who Nemo? Why is everyone looking at him in confusion?'_

 

Nico stares at him a moment before slowly moving over to Nemo and Virgil, drawing the two into a hug. "I'll take him to the commons." he whispers in Virgil's ear. 

 

Virgil nods and backs up, giving Nico room to pick up Nemo and sink out. He moves back next to Logan and glances at him nervously. "I... Think you should tell him..." he says.

 

Logan nods he walks up to Patton. "Patton, I need you to calm down.”

 

Patton breaths in and out. Until his heart slows down. Once he calmed down he looks at Logan. "Logan what is going on? I feel like missing something big, but I don't know what." Logan nods.

 

"What do you remember last?" 

 

"We were in Deceit room petting snakes and listening to Deceit play piano." Logan nods his head again, he puts a hand on his shoulder.

 

"Patton that was 3 weeks ago." Patton looked at him.

 

"What."

 

"You went into a coma again." Patton sits there and thinks for a minute processing what he has learn. Virgil looks at them sadly. He glances behind him to see Roman has left, probably to go help Nico with Nemo. He quietly walks over and sits on Patton's bed. "3 weeks...what has happened in 3 weeks?" He looks at Logan and Virgil. Logan looks at Virgil a sign of help me.

 

"We... Helped Ne- Deceit with some issues. He told us his name is Nemo. We... met a new side, Nico 'Insecurity'. He and Roman started dating. Logan and I did as well. And... you and... Nemo were the first couple..." Virgil says, skipping over somethings, knowing it's too much too soon.

 

"Me and Dee? That's why he kissed me." He felt bad now. He must have hurt his feelings when he pushed him away. "You two start dating?" He looked between Logan and Virgil. Logan nods. "Wow I always knew you two had a thing for each other."

 

Virgil laughs and blushes a bit. "Ya... You had to help Logan figure out his feelings and I overheard, walked up, and kissed him. Nemo got it on video." he says, smiling at the memory.

 

Patton smiles “That does sound like a thing I would do.” He frowns "I wish I could remember. How did I get into a coma? It wasn't what I think it was, was it?" 

 

Logan shakes his head. "Now not the time to go into details, but yes. A lot of bad things happen as well, perhaps you room got rid of it to help you heal." 

 

Patton shake his head. "No, I wouldn't do that. Being controlled of memories I can keep myself from letting that happen. Something else cause it."

 

"But what?" Virgil asks. "There is nothing else!"

 

"Maybe it was an effect from the coma?" Patton considered.

 

Logan shakes his head. "No, I don't think that's it. You had no memory problems the first time. Nemo could take away memories, but it makes no sense for why he would do that. Especially after telling him no." Virgil suddenly gasps and slaps his hand over his mouth, looking between Patton and Logan with scared eyes. Logan looks a Virgil and makes the connection. "You don't think..."

 

Patton looks between them. "What? Think what?"

 

Virgil shakes his head and doubles over, hiding his face. "It's... It's possible... I was out so I don't know for sure, but he had no control..."

 

"Guys you need to help me here. What are you talking about?" 

 

"Patton do you remember Nemo Jekyll and Hyde syndrome?" Patton nods. "Well we think it was possible that the Hyde took your memories."

 

"But why? What does he have to gain from taking away 3 weeks?"

 

"Well it was more 2 weeks, you been in a coma for a week."

 

"Like we said before, a lot happened in those weeks... New relationships were formed, and others grew stronger. There’re different aspects of Thomas that we didn't know about until now... But..." Virgil trails off.

 

"Virgil are you alright?" Patton asked looking at the anxious side.

 

Virgil shakes his head and buries himself in Logan's lap, trying to not cry, but since when did his body listen to him? "N-Nemo's lost you... He- it took you away..." he says, eyes closed.

 

"but I'm here now." 

 

Logan shakes his head. "Patton you lost history, you and Nemo relationship gone. Tell me do you still love him?" 

 

Patton thought about it. He thought Deceit was cute and he was nice to him, but... "No".

 

“That’s why” Logan sighs.


	2. Chapter 2

Virgil grips the sheets tightly. He's in pain, his heart aches for Nemo. He can't take it anymore. "I'm sorry." he whispers before sinking out to the commons to find Roman and Nico surrounding a mostly calmed down Nemo. 

 

Nemo looks up, eyes showing the obvious after effects of crying. "How is he?"

 

"Awake and coming to terms with what happened." Virgil answers. _'He doesn't love you anymore.'_

 

Nemo goes silent, hearing Virgil's thoughts, and Virgil would have done anything to take it back when he sees Nemo's face. He's crying again, turning to cling to Nico, who holds him and rubs his back. Virgil steps closer and embraces both of them, tears sliding down his face as well. "I'm sorry." he apologizes again.

 

"How did this happen? Was it because of the coma?" Roman asked he just calm him down now he is crying again.

 

"N-No." Nemo gasps. "I-I did it."

 

"Nemo, stop. You did not take them,  _it_  did. Stop blaming yourself for things beyond your control." Nico says, holding him close.

 

Nemo whines against him and nods. "He... Doesn't love me."

 

"Nemo, that's not-" Nico is interrupted by Virgil laying a hand on his arm. He stares at Virgil a moment, who sadly nods. He looks down at the crying snake and holds him closer. "Shh..." he soothes, running his hands through Nemo's hair.

 

"Oh Nemo...you can rebuild the relationship. He fell for you once he will again."

 

Nemo shakes his head. "It's not the same..." he says as he relaxes a bit more with every touch from Nico. Virgil just sits on the coffee table, wishing there was more he could do.

 

Roman sighs. "Can you not bring them back?"

 

"I don’t- know." Nemo manages. "Never tried." 

 

Virgil bites his lip. "How did you know before that you can erase memories?"

 

"I erased my memories of Malice. That's why I was fearless to go to the dark side. Until I was reminded of them..."

 

"Well maybe we can get Patton memories back the same way?" Roman wondered.

 

Nemo laughs darkly. "By traumatizing him again? Great plan!" he bites his tongue and turns away from Roman.

 

"Sorry...well what are we going to do? Patton is probably very lost right now and is going to ask questions. What are we going to tell him when he asked about the bad stuff?"

 

Virgil sighs. "I don't know. I can't think right now. We'll have to tell him the truth eventually, but three weeks is a lot to catch up on."

 

Nico nods. "I was going to visit the subscape again soon, but I'll stay if needed."

 

"I would rather you stay here, Patton still hasn't even met you." Roman put a hand on his shoulder. Nico nods.

 

" 'M tir'd." Nemo mumbles before going limp in Nico's arms.

 

Virgil shoots up. "Nemo? Nemo!?"

 

"Virgil! Calm down!" Nico pleads, still holding Nemo.

 

Roman up a hand on his shoulder. "He just tired, you know emotions tired him out."

 

Virgil sighs and nods. He sits next to Nico, opposite side of Nemo. "We'll figure things out." Nico says.

...

"What are we going to do? I feel bad for Nemo. I want to care for him, but I'm not ready for that."

 

'It's ok Patton, will figure this out. I see your hands are heal."

 

"What happen to my hands?"

 

'You had a baking accident, you burn them pretty badly. Luckily, we heal faster in our rooms. So, you look go as new."

 

"Well that good." Patton takes a deep breath. "I think I'm ready to face the others." Logan nods.

 

"Ok let’s go." Logan leads Patton down the stairs.

 

Virgil looks up from laying his head on Nico's shoulder. Nemo is still fast asleep, Nico petting his hair and he looks up at Patton shyly. "Hi. I know you don't remember me, but I'm Nico." he says.

 

Patton pulls out his hand and smiles. "It's nice to re-meet you. I've been told your dating our Roman."

 

Nico shakes his hand and smiles. “Ya, he can be extravagant in his romantic endeavors, but he’s adorable.” He says, smirking at Roman. 

 

Virgil gets up and walks over to Patton and draws him into a big hug, hiding his face against the other’s shoulder.

 

Patton rubs his back. "It's alright kiddo, I'm here." He looks back at Nico. "Well it's nice to meet you, but if you ever hurt our Roman I will fight you." Patton says in his dad voice.

 

Nico laughs. “Oh yes. I know.” He says with a smile. 

 

Nemo groans and wakes up from being jostled. He blinks a few times, trying to figure out where he is. He looks up and sees Nico. Nico looks down at him smiling and strokes his scales, to which Nemo closes his eyes and purrs. 

 

Virgil steps back from Patton and heads silently upstairs to his room.

 

Roman kisses Nico cheek. "I love you, sunshine."

 

“I love you too, my prince.” He whispers

 

“So, your insecurity?" _'I didn't think Roman would fall in love his is opposite.'_

 

Nico smiles and nods. “Ya, It’s a long story.” He says. “We’ll get to it eventually.” 

 

Nemo glances up and sees Patton. His breath catches and he fight of another wave of tears. _‘It’s still him.’_ He reminds himself. _‘But he’s not **my** Patton...’_

 

Patton frowns as he looks at Nemo. "De-Nemo, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you."

 

Nemo bites his lip. “It’s fine.” He says, offering Patton a smile. He hears Nico sigh in disappointment but pretends to not hear.

 

Patton sits next to him and Nico. "Can I talk to you? Alone?"

 

Nemo glances at Nico, who gives him a reassuring nod. “Okay.” Nemo says, looking back at Patton and standing up.

 

Patton takes his hand. "Where would make you more comfortable?"

 

Nemo thinks for a moment. “Your room.”

 

"Ok let’s go" Patton leads him back to his room and sits down on his bed. "So, I'm sorry for what happen earlier."

 

Nemo awkwardly stands in front of him. “No. It’s fine.” He says, barely keeping his voice even. Part of him hopes Patton forgot his tells of when he’s lying. The other part wants nothing more than for him to just hold him and tell him everything’s going to be alright.

 

"Nemo sit down, I know you're not fine. I would be upset too."

 

Nemo chews his lip and obeys, sitting next to Patton silently. “You... thought I was going to leave you...” he starts, whispering. “I had to reassure you that I loves you. That I didn’t hate you.” He plays with the hem of his shirt. “But now... you don’t love me... you left me, and I can’t find you...” he squeezes his eyes shut.

 

Patton pulls him into a hug. "I'm sorry, I'm soo sorry. I like you, I do really. I'm just not ready to be in a relationship right now. I'm really lost and don't know what to do."

 

Nemo hugs him back, trying to hide his tears. “I know.” He says. “I know and it’s not your fault. It’s mine.”

 

Patton massages his head moving his fingers in and out of his hair. "I don't blame you, Logan says it wasn't you. It was your dark side, I can't blame you for that. I just wish I could remember."

 

Nemo sighs and relaxes into Patton’s touch. Even if he doesn’t feel the same anymore, at least he doesn’t hate him. “You really don’t want to remember.” He mumbles.

 

"Logan and Virgil won't tell me in detail what happened. I'm worry that they're trying to hide something from me." He sighs and scratches his scales.

 

Nemo moans and rests his weight against Patton. “There’s a lot of things... we really aren’t looking forward to re-telling you.” He says. He thinks for a moment. “Maybe... Roman can create a movie thin- nope. Nope. Nevermind.”

 

"I guess I'll worry about it later then." Patton starts to hum, Nemo remembers it to be the same medley that Patton sings that night when Patton had his nightmare.

 

Nemo sighs and hums along. “I love you...” he whispers. “Platonically or romantically, I will love you.”

 

"Thanks Mo..." He holds him tight enjoying his time with Nemo.

...

Nico paces Roman’s room, thinking aloud. “How are we supposed to explain that that he almost killed me? What about Nemo? What- “

 

Roman sits on his bed watching him pace back and forth. "Slow down, we'll think of something. How about we start with the good stuff and make our way up to the bad stuff?"

 

Nico nods and comes to sit next to Roman, sighing and resting his head on his shoulder. “I think we’re already doing that.”

 

"Hmm well yes, so we'll keep doing it." Roman kisses his cheek. "Today is the first day he has been awake in a week. He must be starving. How about we make his favorite dinner to celebrate? Take a day for everyone to be comfortable with the situation and then ease him into the darker stuff."

 

Nico smiles and nods. “That sounds lovely.” He says, then pecks Roman’s cheek.

 

"Your voice is lovely" Roman said as he nibbles at his neck.

 

Nico smiles. “Your face is lovely.” He says, drawing his hand down Roman’s cheek and pulling his lip gently with his thumb, gazing into his eyes before kissing him.

...

Virgil sits on his bed, huddle under blankets and lying next to Logan. “I know it doesn’t make sense. I should have been more anxious while Patton was in the coma, but now that he’s awake it’s like I’m carrying my own anxiety and everyone else’s!” He says frustrated.

 

"You do then to take in others anxiety when you're more fluster. Patton memory problem through us into a loop. Nemo is heartbroken, and everyone is worry about what to tell and not tell Patton. When he was in the coma it was less stressful because we knew he would wake up it was just a matter of when." Logan massaged his head.

 

Virgil sighs and buries his face into Logan, feeling a little better knowing he wasn’t overreacting. “What do we do?” He whispers.

 

Logan chuckles "Funny enough we are having a moral dilemma. Should we tell Patton about what happened? Knowing that it would traumatizes him. Or try to save him and keep quiet? Sadly, we all know that Patton will want to know. So, is it really our choice at all?"

 

Virgil sighs. “He’ll find out eventually. Better with us than on his own.”

 

"Agreed, we should wait though. Give him time to adjust to what has happen. He a little disoriented after waking up from a coma. We can take it slow."

 

Virgil nods and draws himself closer to Logan. “It sounds selfish, but I’m glad it’s not you. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

 

"It's alright, I think everyone is thinking the same thing. No one wants to be in that position, not even Patton."

 

Virgil nods. “I’m hungry. What about you?”

 

"Yes I-" he stops and realizes something. "FOOD! Patton been in a coma for a week. He hasn't eaten in a week."

 

Virgil gets up. “Well then, let’s make him something!” He walks out to the kitchen and sees Roman and Nico already there.

 

"I see you beat us to the kitchen." Logan said as they walk in. "So, what are we making Patton today?"

 

"I was thinking Sweet potato casserole and pumpkin pie for desert." Roman answered.

 

"Patton favorite good choice." Logan smirked.

 

Nico smiles and goes over to Virgil, giving him a side hug. “How are you holding up?” 

 

“Eh. The usual.” Virgil says. 

 

Nico nods. “Well, would you like to help me with the pie?”

 

Virgil nods and moves over to the counter.

 

Logan walks over and picks up some crackers. "This will take a while, so I'll give Patton these to hold him over for now." 

 

Sounds good" Roman replied getting the rest of the food down. Logan walked up stairs and knocks on Patton door.

 

"Come in" Logan opens the door to find Patton in his bed holding a sleeping Nemo in his arms. "Hey, Lo what's up?" Logan walks in and shows him the crackers. Patton locks eyes with them licking his lips. He was so hungry, but he didn't want to move. Logan chuckles.

 

"You should have told us if that you were hungry." He hands them to Patton who rips it open and shoves them into his mouth. 

 

"s'fry" Patton said with his mouth full. Logan smirked at him. 

 

"I hope that holds you over until dinner. We’re making your favorite." Patton beam and giggle in joy.

 

Nemo huffs and pulls Patton closer. “Pill’w.” He mumbles and purrs. He felt so warm. So safe. So happy.

 

Patton giggles and gives him a hug. "He really is adorable." 

 

Logan smiles. "I'm glad that you two are getting along. I'll let you know when dinner is ready." 

 

"Ok thanks Lo." Patton puts more crackers into his mouth. 

 

Logan leaves the room and goes back to the kitchen.

 

"How is he?" Roman asked.

 

"Very hungry, but happy. Nemo is sleeping on him again not that Patton doesn't mind. Looks like their getting along."

 

Nico smiles. “Good. Dinner should be ready in about an hour.” They continue working until the house smells of casserole, baked potatoes, and pumpkin pie. “Virgil, can you go let Patton and Nemo know that dinner is ready?” Nico asks. 

 

Virgil nods and heads upstairs, lightly knocking on Patton’s door. “Pat? Nemo? Dinner is ready.”

 

Nemo faintly hears and groans. “Don’t wanna get uuuuuuuppppp!” He whines, snuggling into Patton.

 

"Come on Nemo, I'm hungry. Let's get dinner." Patton plead. He was really hungry, and he was dying to eat some sweet potatoes. He looks to Virgil for help.

 

Virgil sighs and lifts Nemo up, still wrapped in blankets. “Come on, danger noodle. You’ll feel better once you eat.” Nemo hisses and squirms. Patton giggles as Virgil takes Nemo away. “Are you a snake or a worm?” Virgil retorts with a smirk, earning another hiss from Nemo as Virgil carries him downstairs and sets him in a chair. Nemo sighs in defeat. 

 

Nico brings over the casserole and pulls a chair out for Patton. "Thanks Nico." Patton sits down and watches Roman and Logan set the table. He stares at the sweet Potato casserole with glee. Logan smirks and rolls his eyes.

 

"Patton you can eat, we won't make you wait." Patton clap happily as he pulls it closer to him and scups up a big spoon of it onto his plate and starts eating it humming in delight.

 

Nico sits down between Nemo and Roman and serves everyone’s plates before getting his own. “I was told you had a nice nap, noodle.” Nico teases Nemo, the half snake giving him a grumpy glare. 

 

“Ya, he didn’t want to let Patton go.” Virgil chimes in. Nemo ignores them all, as well as his growing blush, and focuses on his food.

 

Patton is to focus on his food to really listen to the others. Logan sit next to Patton and grab his hand. "Patton slow down, you're going to choke." Patton nods.

 

"Sorry it's just so good. Who made it?" Patton looked up.

 

Roman raise his hand. "I did padre, I follow your recipe. I'm glad you like it. Virgil and Nico make pumpkin pie."

 

"I love you guys" Patton puts another spoon full into his mouth.

 

Virgil smiles. “We love you too, Patton. But please slow down!” He says with a laugh. 

 

Nemo glances over and is about to make a comment about hand feeding Patton, but stops himself, remembering that Patton doesn’t remember. He bites his lip and looks away, desperately hoping no one notices his glassy eyes.

 

Patton smiles "Alright kiddo I'll so down." He takes a breath. "Well fill me in, Roman when did you start dating Nico?"

 

Roman looked at Nico then back to Patton. "Well it's a long story but for a summary we started spending some time together and things kinda just blossom from there." Roman hold onto Nico hand. "He makes me happy and that is all that matters."

 

"Aww that so sweet Roman." Patton squeezes his face with his hands.

 

Nico laughs and blushes. “He makes me feel safe and loved. He calls me his sunshine and is an absolute romantic. I made us matching necklaces.” He says, holding his own out against his palm.

 

"That is so adorable!" He looks at Virgil and Logan "You already told me who you two got together, OH Nemo you need to show me that-" he looks over to Nemo and sees he on the verge of tears. "Nemo?"

 

Nemo closes his eyes and stands up. “I’ll- be back.” He says, cursing himself when his voice cracks and he sinks out. 

 

Virgil and Nico look at each other, trying to decide whether or not to go after him. Nico finally shakes his head and Virgil sighs and continues eating. “He just needs a few minutes.” Nico says.

 

Patton frowns "I'm not helping am I?" 

 

"It's not your fault Patton. This is just hard on him. He will come around. Come on let's eat." Logan put a hand on his shoulder.

 

Patton shake his head "I'm not hungry" he stands up. "Can I have a minute?" 

 

Roman give him a warm smile to hide his pity. "Of course, Padre we know this isn't easy on you." Patton nods and walks upstairs.

 

Virgil face plants on the table. “Romaaaaaaaaan!” He groans.

 

"What did I do?" Roman said dramatically.


	3. Chapter 3

Patton walk down the hall he sees a door that he doesn't recognize. He hears whispers from the other side. He knocks on the door. "Nemo are you in there?" No one responds, Patton opens the door. "I'm sorry that I upset you." He enters the room. It's dark, he can't see anything. "Nemo?" He feels something wrap around his mouth. He screams as it pulls him down.

...

Nico gasps and clutches the edge of the table, breathing deeply, eyes wide.  _Something’s wrong. Something’s wrong. SOMETHING’S WRONG!_

 

"Nico what's wrong?" Roman asked holding his shoulders.

 …

Patton calls out of the darkness. “Hello?” He turns and finds Nemo. “Nemo- ‘

 

“You don’t love me” He glares at him. “You’re not _my_ Patton. You’re a fake.”

 

“Nemo please I’m sorry I can’t love you back right now.”

 

“FAKE” Nemo sets closer “Everything you do is fake.” Patton takes a setback.

 …

Nico shoots up from the table and races up the stairs to his room.

 

"Nico!" Roman is about to follow him when Logan stops him.

 

"Roman wait. I think Patton found Nico room." He didn't like the idea, but it would make sense for why Nico acted the way he did.

 

"We need to save him!" Roman try to push through but Logan stay in his way.

 

"Roman stop, let Nico handle it. You might just make it worst if you get stuck." Roman didn't like it, but he had a point he sighs and sits down.

 

"Fine we'll wait."

 

Nico finds the door open and rushes in. He raises his hands and the shadows stay away from him. He smiles with confidence. During this past week he's been practicing controlling the insecurities and exploring his powers. He runs through the door way and down the cold stairs, the darkness doing little to stop him.

 ...

"Nemo I'm-" Nemo slap him

 

"Don't call me that! Only the real Patton can call me that." Patton hold his cheek tears falling down his face.

 

"Ne-" Nemo slaps him again.

 

'WHAT DID I JUST SAY!?" Patton cries.

 

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

 

"What is my name?" Nemo glare at him.

 

"Deceit" Patton answer scared of another slap.

…

Nico hears a slap sound throughout the corridor. He discovered that each side has a certain part of the underground castle that they get taken to by the shadows. So far, he only knows Logan gets taken to the dungeon and Virgil to a big empty room. 

 

He spins around, trying to figure out which hall to take. He closes his eyes and focuses on-his heart stops, his breath catches, his eyes fly open. It- it's back, he looks around. He can't do this alone. He runs back to his room, tearing down the hall to a black door with yellow trim. He rapidly knocks before throwing it open. "Nemo!" he shouts.

 

The half snake jumps from his place on the bed, tear stains still evident on his scales. "What!?" he growls. 

 

"Patton needs you.  _It's_  back."

 

Nemo's eyes widen, and he slides off the bed and walks closer. "Where?" 

 

"My room. Downstairs. I can't find him without you. It's not just insecurities this time, it's lies as well."

 

Nemo nods. No matter what, he loves Patton and he's not going to give up on him. "Let’s go." he says before running down the hall and into Nico's room. He runs through the shadows, feeling himself slow down as if attempting to swim. 

 

Nico is right behind him, raising his hands and freeing Nemo. They both heads down the stairs and stand in the intersection of the halls, searching for any hint as to Patton's whereabouts.

...

"SAY IT" Nemo screams at him.

 

"I hate you"

 

"I don't believe you." He slaps Patton again; his face feels numb.

 

"I HATE YOU" Patton screams Nemo smirks.

 

'Why do you hate me?" Patton whimpers.

 

"You beat me, you hate me because I'm fake." Nemo lets go of him and disappears.

...

Both Nico and Nemo turn their heads towards the scream. They barely glance at each other before running down the hall. They find Patton at the end of it, sitting on the ground, alone.

 

"Patton..." Nemo says gently, approaching him.

 

Patton looks up and sees Nemo and screams trying to move away from him. His face is red as if someone has been slapping him. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please no more."

 

Nemo jumps back in shock, almost falling over before Nico steadies him. He looks back at Nico, who's gaze is trained analytically on Patton. 

 

Nico releases Nemo and slowly steps forward, kneeling down to come off less threatening. "Patton... We're here to help you. Who hurt you?" he asks gently.

 

Patton covers his head and shakes "De-Deceit did, he kept slapping me."

 

Nico hears a thud behind him and looks over his shoulder to see Nemo fallen to his knees, staring at the ground blankly as tears freely flow down his cheeks. "Nemo, get out of here. I can't lose you too." he says.

 

Nemo just slowly looks up at him with tired eyes.

 

Patton is too scare to move, he scare to speak. He doesn't want to anger Deceit again.

 

"I'm not going to hurt you..." Nemo says sadly. "I would never hurt you..."

 

Patton shakes his head. _'This is a test, it has to be. I won't fall for it. Remember he hates you, you're fake, you're supposed to hate him.'_

 

Nemo cries and covers his face. "I don't hate you, Patton. Oh, I don't hate you! Please believe me! I love you! So, so, so, so, so much! You're not fake. You are real. You may not remember everything, but that doesn't make you any more or less real!"

 

Nico moves to the side, not wanting to be in the way, but also keeping guard. As soon as they can touch Patton without him freaking out, they're getting out of there.

 

"Stop it, you're confusing me." Patton was so confused he could feel his sadness, it feels like he is telling the truth but the last ten minutes...

 

Nemo curls up on the ground, sobbing. _'He doesn't believe you. He hates you. You hurt him. You're a monster.'_

 

Nico snaps to attention, hearing Nemo's insecurities. "No. Stop." he says. Nemo doesn't acknowledge him.

 

"What do you want from me? First you say you love me, then you say you hate me, you want to be called Nemo then you want to be called Deceit, you want me to hate you but then you don't. Just tell me what you want." Patton a little worry about what he said, _'What if he gets mad? Oh god is he going to hit me again?'_

 

Nemo sobs harder. "Kill me..."

 

"Nemo. No!" Nico says with a warning tone, heart beginning to race. He's losing him. He's losing him! He turns back to Patton. "Okay. You remember Nemo's Jekyll and Hyde syndrome?" he asks hurriedly.

 

Patton nods his head. He thinks for a second before it clicks. he looks up wide eye. "It wasn't him." Patton crawls his way to Nemo pulling him into a strong hug. "It wasn't you, it wasn't you, it wasn't you." He holds him tight _'How could I forget that? I hurt him, I hurt him.'_

 

Nemo clings to Patton, hiding his face in the other's arm, shaking and desperately trying to quiet his sobs, but to no avail.

 

Nico sighs and walks up to them, wrapping his arms around them and sinking out to Patton's room. "It's okay." he says. "Don't blame yourself for forgetting. In the moment, you were scared. And often when we are scared, logic gets thrown out the window. Literally."

 

Patton starts to calm down as he holds his Nemo. "What happened? I went into this room then I think I feel through it? Then you were there, but not really. He kept yelling at me. He said I was fake and that I wasn't _your_ Patton. and-"

 

Nemo puts his hand over Patton's mouth. "Shut up." he whimpers, voice deep and broken.

 

Nico rubs Nemo's back. "That was my room. I am Insecurity. However, I am not like the rest of you. I didn't form like you. Different parts of me are from different parts of Thomas's mind. Roman brought those pieces together to form me. I was confined to the imagination for a while until he made a form for me to enter the rest of the mindscape with. That's why I don't obey the natural laws of the mindscape, and apparently neither does my room. It's toxic to everyone, including myself. However, I have been practicing and getting better and better at controlling the forces within it."

 

Patton nods and focuses on trying to comfort Nemo without saying anything. He tries not to think worry he will think something that would upset him. He just focuses on his hands as they rub his back. He holds him tight, he is worry that he might be do something wrong but holding him just feels right.

 

Nemo slowly calms down. "Why- am I- so- weak?"

 

Nico sighs. "Nemo... We've been over this..."

 

"You’re not weak... am I weak?" Patton starts to regret saying that last part.

 

Nico resists the urge to groan. He gets snippy and short tempered after using his powers for an extended period of time. "We're all weak." he says. "Can we please finish dinner now?"

 

Nemo flinches and barely nods. Nico gets up and leaves.

 

Patton continues to hold to Nemo but doesn't move. He doesn't want to, he wants Nemo to be happy. His face hurts but he doesn't care, he buries his face into Nemo shoulder and just sits there not saying anything.

 

"D-Don't." Nemo whispers, sensing Patton trying to hide his pain. "Just... Make yourself happy. When you're happy, I'll be happy." he rubs Patton's back, his own breathing becoming steadier.

 

Patton wants to say a lot. He wants to say sorry, he wants to say he loves him, but he is worry of making things worst. Talking hasn't gotten him anywhere good right now. He sighs and continues to hold him tight. He relaxes in his touch. He ignores the image of Nemo hitting him. _'That wasn't real, he would never. He loves me, he would never.'_

 

"We... Should go finish eating... You're probably still hungry..." Nemo finally says.

 

Patton shakes his head. "Later"

 

"Okay." 

 

They sit there for a bit. "I forgive you." Nemo quietly says.


	4. Chapter 4

Nico comes down the stairs. "Did you find him?" Logan asks sees the annoyance on his face "What's wrong?"

 

"Nothing." Nico snaps. "They're fine. They're in Patton's room. I'm hungry." he grabs his plate and sinks out again. Virgil looks up and watches him, then looks to Logan.

 

"They're?" Logan looks at Roman and Virgil.

 

"Nemo must have join him. Should we check on them?" Roman wonder.

 

"I think we can give them some space, same with Nico." Logan sighs. "This day could have gone better..."

 

"Well, it didn't go worse." Virgil points out.

 

"True" Logan looks at Patton plate. "He's still hungry. Maybe we should bring him his food?"

 

Virgil nods. "I'll bring it." he says, grabbing Patton and Nemo's plates, warming them up, then bringing them upstairs. He peaks through the door. "Hey. Thought you guys might still be hungry." he says, setting the plates down in front of them, noticing Patton's red face. "Are you two okay?" he asks worriedly.

 

Patton hides his face in Nemo shoulder., He nods his head. "I'm fine kiddo, just tired." Patton is hoping Nemo will play along.

 

Nemo keeps his face hidden as well, petting Patton's hair. He nods. "Ya, thank you for bringing our food, Virgil." he says, managing to keep his voice steady.

 

Virgil bites his lip and nods. They obviously weren't okay, but neither one wanted to talk about it. He figures he'll give them some space. "Okay, well... We'll be downstairs if you need us." he says, making his way to the door.

 

"Virgil" Virgil turn around. "Tell the others I love them and thank them for dinner." Virgil nodded.

 

"Sure thing Pat." Virgil closes the door on his way out. Patton sighs and relaxes.

 

"Thanks for playing along..."

 

"Mhmm..." Nemo reaches forward grabs the plates, handing Patton's to him. "Didn't feel like explaining." He simply says before taking a bite.

 

Patton does take the plate. He keeps hugging Nemo. "Don't feel like dealing with it. If I go down there, they are going ask questions and they are going to worry." He sighs "I know things are bad, I'm not stupid. I know there are things you don't want me to remember. Like I'm sorry but 'baking accident? I don't believe that, I am a careful baker. I know something bad happened, I was in a week-long coma I must have done something really stupid." He sighs again "Just hold me, I feel safe in your arms."

 

Nemo holds him tight, ignoring his food for a moment to bury his face under Patton's chin. "I feel safe in yours as well..." he whispers.

 

Patton smiles, _'Nemo makes me feel safe. Even when only 30 minutes ago I was terrific of him. My fear is crush by another feeling.'_ "Nemo... I've decided that I love you."

 

Nemo's head jerks up and he stares at Patton for a long moment, searching for any hint of deceit, of him just saying that to make him feel better. But there was none. It was honest, true, genuine love. "I love you too." he says. Oh, how good it felt to say that! Nemo relaxes and draws their faces closer before hesitating. "Can... I kiss you?"

 

Patton pulls him into a kiss, long and passionate. Nemo purrs and moans softly, holding Patton close on his lap. He intertwines his fingers with Patton, closing his eyes, never wanting this moment to end.Patton slowly pulls out. "Sorry it took me so long to do that." He says sheepishly.

 

"No..." Nemo whispers, leaning his forehead against Patton's. "Don't apologize. You didn't know me like I knew you. It's okay." He says, stroking Patton's cheek. He smirks. "Though I have to admit, you tasted like casserole."

 

Patton laughs "I wonder why" he pulls his plate over. "You were right I am starving." He starts eating his food.

 

Nemo smiles and gives him some elbow room to eat. He picks up his own plate and finishes it. He picks up both their plates once they've finished. "I can take these downstairs and be right back?" He offers. "Oh! Would you like some pie?"

 

"I would love some pie" He smiles.

 

Nemo nods and heads downstairs. He makes his way into the kitchen, Virgil doing dishes. 

 

Virgil looks up at him and smiles, taking the plates from him. "You guys feeling better?" He asks gently.

 

Nemo nods. "Ya, we uh..." He blushes slightly and rubs his arm. "We kissed."

 

Virgil screeches before slapping a hand over his mouth. He runs over and hugs Nemo. "I'm so happy for you!" 

 

Nemo laughs and hugs Virgil back. "Thanks for bringing our plates up earlier. We were hungry, but we really didn't want to come downstairs. We're probably going to chill in Patton's room for a bit."

 

Virgil nods. "Would you guys like some pie?" Nemo nods and Virgil grabs two fresh plates and serves them, topping the pumpkin pie with whipped cream. 

 

"Hey... did you happen to see Nico after we got back?" Nemo asks. 

 

Virgil noticeably tenses. 

 

"What happened?" Nemo asks worriedly.

 

"Nothing. He just seemed... off... Roman said he gets crabby after using his powers and practicing controlling his room, so hopefully that's all there is to it." Virgil says, handing the plates to Nemo. "Anyways, don't worry about it. Roman's probably with him right now. Just focus on you and Patton." He says with a smile.

 

Nemo nods and smiles back. "Okay. Thank you." He says before sinking out.

 

Virgil sighs and leans against the counter, happy that Nemo and Patton are together again. They really are perfect for each other. He shakes his head and smiles, getting back to work on the dishes.

 

Nemo rises up inside Patton's room. "Hey. Sorry it took longer than expected. Virgil caught me for a moment." He says with a chuckle, handing Patton his plate.

 

"That's alright" Patton takes the plate. "Hey maybe you could feed me like...be…fore..." Patton thinks for a second. "I don't know why I said that."

 

Nemo looks up. "You- you remember... that?"

 

Patton thinks on it. "I think it was pie, or was it popcorn? I'm also thinking about pancakes."

 

Nemo smiles and scoots closer, cupping Patton's face. "Patton, that was last week. Before you went into the coma. After you burned your hands, I helped you eat. You burned them while making a pie for me, and I fed you a slice of it. Then everyone got together for a movie night and I fed you popcorn. And the morning before you went into the coma we had pancakes." he says, tears of joy glossing over his eyes.  _'He's remembering! He's remembering! I didn't lose him!'_

 

Patton smiles "Treasure Planet, right?" He so happy that he is remembering, and Nemo smile makes his heart flutter.

 

Nemo nods enthusiastically. "Ya, Nico had never seen it, and it was his first time having a family night with us! And Virgil dropped an ice cube down Logan's shirt!" He says with a laugh. "Logan chased him and managed to pin him down and tickle him as revenge."

 

Patton hugs Nemo "Oh Nemo I'm getting better!"

 

Nemo clutches him tightly, nodding against the other's shoulder. "I'm never letting you go again." He mumbles.

 

"I love you so much" Patton kisses his cheek. "I'm never leaving you again."

 

Nemo wraps himself protectively around Patton, putting his chin on top of Patton's head, massaging his neck. He breathes in the other's scent and sighs. "Mine..." he murmurs happily.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is where the dark stuff starts. It's gonna be like that for the next few chapters. Please stay safe!
> 
> TW: Violence, Blood

Anger. That's all he felt. Anger at himself. Anger at others. Anger at the world. His black fists continue to fly at the boxing bag. 

 

_Thud! Thud! Thud!_

 

He didn't wrap them. They're probably going to bruise, but he doesn't care. He craves pain. He deserves pain.

_Thud! Thud! Thud!_

 

The sounds echo off the cold walls. He probably shouldn't be here. He shouldn't have come back down here. He knows it’s bad influence on his current emotional state. But he doesn't care.

 

Roman knocks on his door. "Nico? It's been an hour are you feeling better?" He gets no response, he sighs and opens the door. "Nico?" But he not there, Roman walks in noticing the shadows leaving him alone. "Your downstairs aren't you?" He asks no one. Roman goes down the stairs, he hears a noise and follows it. He eventually sees Nico punch a boxing bag. "Nico?"

 

Nico catches the bag swinging back at him. He leans against it, panting heavily and looking up at Roman, disheveled. "Hey." He says tiredly, bangs falling into his face. He stands and checks his knuckles. Definitely bruised. He makes a fist and turns back to the bag, throwing a few more punches.

 

"Nico come up stairs you've been down here for too long."

 

"No." Nico thrust particularly hard, a small crack sounding. He ignores it and throws again, pain immediately traveling up his arm as he lets out a shout and he collapses in pain, clutching his hand.

 

"Nico!" Roman runs over and grabs his hand. "Nico you broke your hand"

 

Nico hisses as Roman touches it. "R-Really? C-Couldn't tell..." He says with as much sass as he can while being in pain.

 

Roman roll his eyes and summon a med kit. "Just hold still" He grabs so wipes and tries to clean off the blood.

 

Nico hisses again and tries to hold his hand down as Roman works on it. "I'd say I'm sorry... But I'm just not." He says, gritting his teeth.

 

"Stop talking" he wraps the hand. He didn't have the patience for this.

 

Nico huffs. "Fine, your  _highness_."

 

"Alright that should do for now. Logan is a better medic than me so will get him to look it over. Now come on were leaving." Roman stands up. Nico doesn't move."Nico come on you can't stay here." Roman grabs his other hand and tries to pull him up.

 

Nico yanks his arm free and falls back down. The shadows start moving closer to them, Nico making no attempt to send them away. "Leave me alone..." he mumbles.

 

Roman tries again "No, I know we're all stubborn shit heads but I'm not leaving you here."

 

Nico rips his arm free and shoves Roman back. "LEAVE ME ALONE!" He screams, the shadows encircling Roman.

 

"Nico stop, calm down." Roman try to stay calm but the whispers in his head was making ithard.

 

"GET OUT!" Nico yells, eyes briefly flickering red. The shadows yank Roman away and upstairs, throwing him into the hallway.

 

Roman hit his head on the wall. He stands up, "FINE I DON'T CARE SOAK FOR ALL I CARE!" Roman stomp off to his room and slams the door.

 

Virgil jumps at the sounds. He leaps off his bed and peaks out his door just in time to see Roman slam his. He shudders and carefully makes his way to Roman's room. He knocks on the door. "Roman?" He calls quietly.

 

Roman pulls up a pillow and screams into it. He then sighs and opens the door. "Hello Virgil, do you need something?" He made no attempt to hide his annoyance.

 

"What happened?" Virgil asks worriedly, searching Roman over for visible injuries.

 

"Nico being an ass. Goes a break his hand and refuses to leave his room. He literally threw me out. So now I don't care anymore. He wants to be a stubborn soak then fine." Roman huff.

 

"What?" Virgil says, shocked. Nico hates his room. He doesn't go in it unless he has to. And if Roman asks him for anything, he usually does it. And that thud he heard must have been Roman... "Roman, are you okay?" He says, reaching up to check the other's head.

 

"I'm fine just head my head on the wall." He waves him off. "I think I'm going to go plow off some steam."

 

"O-Okay." Virgil says as the door closes. He turns and runs down the hall to Logan's room, knocking before entering. "Lo?"

 

Logan looks up from his desk. "Yes, Virgil is something wrong?" He asks after seeing Virgil expression.

 

Virgil walks in and stands next to Logan. "Nico broke his hand and refused to come out of his room, even when Roman asked. He actually threw Roman out. Roman's upset and said he's going to go blow off some steam..."

 

"Hmm Nico shouldn't stay in his room for too long. It's not good for him, but there not a lot we can do. We set one foot in there and we are goners. Roman the only who can stand his ground in there and it doesn't look like they want to talk to each other."

 

"What about Nemo?" Virgil asks desperately, growing mildly frustrated with how calm Logan is being.

 

"Absolutely not, Nemo has more insecurities than all of us combined." Logan starts thinking _'There has to be a way to get him out.'_

 

Virgil sighs and sits on Logan's lap. "You do realize that only leaves one person, right?"

 

"I don't like it. We don't know how Patton took being in his room. How is he by the way?"

 

"Better, he and Nemo made out." Virgil says with a smirk.

 

"Oh! that's great, so that means their back together." Logan looks please to hear this, he was worry about their relationship. Good to know that things work out.

 

Virgil nods. "Nemo came down with their plates and grabbed some pie for both of them. They're probably still in Patton's room."

 

Logan thinks for a minute. "We could ask Patton if he is willing to go look for him, but I'm worry that Nemo would do it. Like I said Nemo can't go but I doubt that Nemo will let Patton go alone."

 

Virgil nods. "Nemo won't let him go unless someone else goes with him. Even then it-"

 

_CRASH!_

 

Virgil jumps and falls off Logan's lap. He looks up at the door. 

 

"NICO! STOP!" He hears Nemo shout. There’re rapid footsteps down the hall and slamming doors.

 

Logan gets up and throws open his door looking into the hall. Nico is standing in front of Patton's open door, Nemo standing before him, blocking his way to Patton hiding behind the lying trait. Shadows surround Nico's hands as his eyes glow as red as the cloak he now wears. He looks at Nemo, full of hate and ready to kill. 

 

"NICO!" Virgil shouts. Nico barely glances at him, sneering and sending a shadow his direction with a flick of his wrist. Virgil conjures a translucent purple shield and holds it up as the shadow hits it and disperses.

 

 _'Not good, not good.'_ Logan doesn't know what to do. He can't fight.

 

"Nico what has gotten into you?" Patton was so scare _'why is Nico trying to hurt us?'_

 

“The dark side is controlling him.” Nemo quickly says before summoning his sword with the tassel on the end. He swings it out towards Nico. He has to protect Patton! Nico merely steps to the side and summons his own blade, bringing it down as Nemo blocks him, struggling under the pressure. “PATTON! GET BACK!” He calls behind him and pushes Nico’s blade off his, before Nico swings around and the sounds of clashing metal fill the air. Patton backs away, 'Nico has it too?'

 

Virgil races forward and channels his momentum into his shield. Nico steps aside and Virgil crashes to the ground atop his shield.

 

"VIRGIL!" Logan wants to help but he doesn't know how. It's foolish to jump in.

 

Virgil tries to kick Nico’s legs out, but Nico holds out his hand, shadows gripping Virgil’s limbs. Virgil looks at Logan, eyes showing his fear. A shadow wraps around his throat. Virgil gasps, unable to breathe. _‘Help me’_ he mouths. 

 

Nemo plunges his sword at Nico, who quickly spins both of their blades, causing Nemo to lose his grip and drop his sword. Nico grabs Nemo’s neck, black beginning to spread over his skin. Nemo chokes and kicks, grabbing Nico’s wrists desperately. “Ni- co.” He chokes out, looking at the other. “S-sa- “ 

 

Nico’s gaze hardens, and he squeezes Nemo’s throat harder, stopping the other from finishing the phrase.

 

Logan understands what Nemo was trying to say he yells "SAHLO FOLINA!"

 

Nico hisses and drops both Virgil and Nemo before disappearing, his door slamming closed.

 

Virgil pants and Nemo hacks trying to get oxygen through his swollen throat.

 

"Nemo" Patton made his way to him and holds him. 

 

"Virgil" Logan runs over to him.

 

Nemo continues choking while rubbing Patton’s arm and trying to reassure him. 

 

Virgil breathes deeply and looks up at Logan. “I’m- okay...” he says with a hoarse voice.

 

"You are not ok! You were getting choke" Logan couldn't hide his worry. He holds onto Virgil. "Don't you ever scare me like that again."

 

Virgil laughs and ends up in a coughing fit. “Love ya too, Lo...” he says after recovering. 

 

"Do you need anything?" Patton asked trying to be helpful.

 

“W- “Nemo coughs. “Water...” He says, voice almost inaudible.

 

Patton gets up and runs down stairs to get water. He comes back and hands it to Nemo and one to Virgil. "What happened?" Logan asked.

 

Nemo pauses his drink and tries to answer, but only ends up coughing again. Virgil crawls over and rubs his back.Logan waits for Nemo to answer.Nemo breathes deeply, trying to calm himself. “N-Nico... threw... door open. Red- eyes ‘n’ cloak. Ha- had to- protect- “he starts coughing again.

 

Nemo shakes his head. “Don’t- know.” There’re tears in his eyes. It hurts to use his voice. Virgil grabs his phone and opens it to a note app then hands it to Nemo. Nemo takes it and types, _‘We heard the crash and Roman yelling. Then a while later Nico came in and I was scared so I jumped in front of Patton and pushed Nico out, but he was strong and wouldn’t move further than the door. His eyes were fixed on Patton the whole time.’_ He hands the phone to Logan.

 

Logan reads it and frowns. "Sometimes I hate to be right." He looks at Nico "It looks like it's going after Patton. The memory wipe, whatever happened in Nico room and now this." 

 

"It tried to get me to hate Nemo." Patton holds his now bruise face.

 

Logan nods "It's trying to break you two up so Nemo will lose the thing he cares about the most."

 

Nemo curls in on himself, burying his face between his knees. Virgil rubs his shoulder. “But why? What does it want? What does it hope to accomplish by isolating Nemo?”

 

"Full control of him. With Patton gone..." Patton hug Nemo. 

 

"That will never happen. I won't let it."

 

"Exactly my point Patton."

 

Nemo curls into Patton. Virgil nods. “We need Roman. He’s the only one who will be able to talk some sense into Nico.”

 

"Where is Roman? Wouldn't he have come out by now?" Patton asked.

 

“I think he’s in the imagination. He said he didn’t care if Nico wanted to sulk in his room...” Virgil says sadly. He shakes his head. “We need him. I’ll find him.” He says, standing up.

 

Patton nods "It's Roman I'm sure he didn't mean it, he was just upset." He rubs Nemo shoulder.

 

Nemo sighs and relaxes into Patton. He grabs Virgil’s sleeve as he walks by. Virgil turns to look at him. ‘ _Be careful’_ Nemo mouths. Virgil smiles at him. “I will.” He goes to Roman’s room and knocks.There is no response, he must still be in the imagination. The door is unlocked.Virgil heads in, looks around, and goes through the mirror to the imagination.

 

Virgil finds himself in a field it takes him a bit, but he finds Roman sitting on a bench asunflower in his hand. He looks up,

 

"Hello Virgil, what brings you here?"

 

“Hey, Ro.” He says, looking sadly at the sunflower in Roman’s hands. He sits down next to him and sighs. “Nico needs you...”

 

"He doesn't want to talk to me." He keeps his eyes on the sunflower. "But you wouldn't be here unless it was important." He looks at Virgil. "So, what happened?"

 

“He attacked Nemo and Patton, choked me and nearly destroyed Nemo’s throat to prevent him from saying ‘Sahlo Folina’.” Virgil says, looking at him seriously. “His eyes were blood red, as was his cloak. Logan said the phrase and he disappeared, I think back to his room. You’re the only one that can get close to him without him killing you.”

 

Roman sigh "He should have listened to me... Alright. I'll try again." Roman puts the sunflower behind his ear. He holds Virgil hand and sinks back into the hall in front of Nico door. Roman takes a deep breath. "I'll take it from here, go protect Nemo and Patton just in case."

 

Virgil nods. “Stay safe.” He says before leaving.

 

"I will" Roman watches until Virgil is gone then he tries to knock. "Nico? Can I come in?"

 

The door opens, and Nico stands before him, giving him a small bow. “My prince...” he says darkly.

 

Roman looks him dead in the eye. "Sahlo Folina".

 

Nico’s eyes narrow as his body tenses. His eyes glow bright red and he shakes his head. “N-NO!” He screams before passing out.

 

Roman sighs as he relaxes and picks Nico up. "Sorry sunshine" he sinks into his room and puts him into a chair and ties him to it. He then pulls out another chair and sits down in front of him. He pulls the flower out of his hair and plays with it while he waits for Nico to wake up.

 

_'He hates you. He hates you. He hates you.'_

 

Nico screams and flies forward, only to be thrown back when his momentum collides with the ropes. He kicks and thrashes, scared and disoriented.

 

Roman stands up from his chair. "Nico calm down. You're alright." He puts his hands on his shoulders. "Look at me" He watches to see the color of his eyes.

 

Nico looks up at Roman, golden eyes full of fear. He's pinned down, he's tied to a chair by Roman, his love, Why? What did he do? He doesn't know. He's shaking. He starts crying. He's panicking. Something happened last time he was in this position. Something bad. The ache in his shoulders proves it. He cries harder. "Please... Sorry!" he doesn't look at Roman. He can’t.

 

Roman relaxes at the sight of his beautiful golden eyes. He pulls him into a hug and starts untying him from the chair. "You’re alright, everyone is ok now." The ropes fall to the ground. He pulls out seeing him crying it breaks his heart. He kisses his forehead and holds him close. "Shh it's ok, everything is ok now. I'm not mad" He pets his head over and over again.

 

Nico whimpers and curls up, leaning into Roman. "W-why?" he whispers, voice breaking.

 

"I was worry that the phase didn't work. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that to you. Do you remember what happened?" Roman keeps rubbing him trying to calm him down.

 

"Phrase? What?" Nico says, flexing his hand. Why did it hurt? Oh ya. He broke it. And then- "I THREW YOU OUT!?" He exclaims, looking at Roman sad and worried. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I don't know what got into me! Are you okay? I should have listened! I'm so sorry!"

 

"Shh it's ok one thing at a time. We know the phrase Sahlo Folina hurts the dark side when I said it you pass out. I took you to my room and as a precaution I tie you up in case it didn't work. As for throwing me out, you were upset I understand, it doesn't matter now." Roman reassure him, "Everything is ok now Sunshine."

 

Nico sighs and breathes deeply, focusing on Roman's touch, but he can't help the storm of insecurity crashing around inside him. Usually he remembers what happens while under the dark side's influence, but this time... He remembers nothing except throwing Roman out and then waking up tied to a chair.

 

Roman starts humming. He doesn't let go until he knows that Nico has calm down.

 

Nico relaxes more and more against Roman, becoming tired. He closes his eyes and sighs, letting his guard down for a moment. He suddenly tenses, red eyes flying open and he pushes himself away, just enough to summon a knife and bury it into Roman's stomach. He holds him tightly and grins. Roman coughs up blood.Nico eyes narrow a moment before throwing Roman down on the floor, knife still lodged inside him, Roman looks at Nico with anger. "You son of a-" Nico makes a makeshift gag out of Roman's sash andgags him.

 

Nico slaps him. "Is that any way to talk to your superior?" he tsks and yanks the knife out, admiring the blood-stained metal before stepping on the wound.Roman screams in pain muff by his sash. He tries to move but Nico was to strong and moving hurt even more.

 

Nico leans down, smiling at him and running his hand along his face. "Do you know how beautiful you are in pain? Desperately squirming because of me?" He steps off of Roman, giving the prince a chance to breathe, but his hand still remains.

 

Roman glares at him and head butts him. Nico hisses and stumbles back, falling and clutching his face.Roman pulls off the gag and screams "HEEEELLLLLLPPPPPP" He tries to stand up.

 

Nico growls and tackles Roman down. He grimaces as his injured hand eases its grip. He leans down and kisses Roman deeply, biting the other's tongue and grinning, blood red eyes glancing up and taking in Roman's pained face.

 

Logan opens the door "Ro-MAN" Logan sees Roman on the ground screams and trying to fight Nico. Logan runs in and tries to pull Nico off of him.

 

Nico spins around, elbowing Logan to the stomach and kicking his legs out from under him. He raises his hand and shadows encircle both of them.

 

Roman spit up blood and looks at Logan "Lwgain" his tongue hurt, it hurt to talk.

 

Virgil runs in soon after. "Ro- LOGAN!" He looks between the two captured sides then up at Nico. He grits his teeth and summons a shield, preparing to charge when Nico disappears with Roman.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Bondage, Implied Non-Con, Violence

Virgil runs to Logan's side. "Are you okay!?"

 

"Don't worry about me, it took Roman." Logan sees the blood that must have come from Roman.

 

Virgil nods and offers Logan a hand. "Nico's room?"

 

Logan takes Virgil hand and stands up holding his stomach. "Most likely. We need to check on Nemo."

 

"He's fine. He's with Pat- oh." Virgil says in realization. He turns and runs down the hall to Patton's room and knocks. He throws the door open. "Nemo?" he calls.

 

Nemo looks up from his spot on Patton's bed. "Virgil! What happened?"

 

"It took over Nico again and he captured Roman." Virgil quickly says.

 

Patton eyes go wide "Oh no we need to do something!"

 

Logan makes his way over still hunch over. "Everyone slows down. We need a plan."

 

"Logan?" Virgil asks cautiously.

 

Logan shakes his head. "I'm fine just not uses to pain." He looks up "He most likely took Roman to his room. His room is very dangerous to all of us. That's why we need a plan."

...

Nico has Roman's hands and feet tied to a bed as he sits nearby, watching the other squirm, trying to escape. He smirks. He hasn't even made any advances on Roman yet... He reaches up to brush his hair back when he feels something. He gingerly pulls it out of his hair and finds it to be a sunflower. He stands up and walks over to the bed, where Roman can see him. "Look at me." he says, forcefully grabbing Roman's jaw and pulling it towards him. He holds up the sunflower and crushes it, delighting in Roman's fallen face as the flower lands limply on the bed.

 

Roman struggles. _'I hate this, I hate this so much. I swear I'm going to kill him. Nico gone, I'm not getting him back.'_

 

Nico sits on the bed and runs his hand down Roman's face, down his neck and over his body. He leans in. "Shh... Just sleep, my prince. Nothing's going to hurt you anymore." he says, tickling his chin. "Just sleep. Who needs creativity anyways? Barely half your ideas get used..."

 

Roman spits blood at him. "Noth wours" Roman hate that he can't talk right now.

 

Nico simply laughs and wipes the blood off his face and onto Roman's shirt before leaning closer. "I'm sorry,  _love,_  what was that? You want another kiss? Well, I don't blame you." he says with a smirk, encircling Roman's mouth with his own, holding Roman's head still.

 

Roman wants to pull away but he can't. He has no power and he hates it. All he can do is lay here and take it. He hopes that the others find him soon.

 

Nico hums and pulls away, replacing the gag and getting up. The shadows crawl closer. "Since you so despise my company, I figure I'll leave you alone for a bit. How's that sound? Being tied to a bed and locked in a room where no one can find you... Oh how fun!" he says, clapping his hands too joyously before turning and leaving as the shadows crawl over him.

 

 _'You're worthless. Alone. Abandoned. Ugly. Despised...'_ the list goes on and on. Roman struggles and screams.

...

Nemo rubs his temples, trying to think. "He can't see yellow. Sahlo Folina pushes back the shadows. He can't possess both me and Nico at the same time." he says, listing off their advantages. His heart starts beating faster, barely hearing whispers of lies.

 

Virgil starts fidgeting and openly chewing on his sleeve. "He's scared." he whispers. "Roman..."

 

"We need to hurry, who knows what it's doing to him." Patton argued.

 

"We are all going, it might take all of us to stop it and free Nico." Logan said feeling slightly better.

 

Virgil nods and changes the purple on his hoodie to yellow. Nemo snaps his fingers and his usual outfit takes its place.Patton and Logan change their shirts to Yellow. "Let’s go get Roman" Logan said standing up and walking out of Patton room.

 

Virgil walks behind Logan, Nemo following and holding Patton's hand. Nemo looks at him sternly. "Do not, under any circumstances, switch emotions or make rash decisions. Understood?" he sighs. "I'm not losing you again." he says in a softer tone.

 

"You know about that?" Patton looked surprise, he hasn't done that in years.

 

Nemo nods. "You kept doing that with me... That's what sent you into the coma."

 

Patton squeezes Nemo hand. "Oh" He starts getting flashes of him fighting Nico.

 

Nemo frowns. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea..." he says.

 

"Come on guys!" Virgil waves them over from the entrance of Nico's room.

 

Virgil and Logan are already inside the room, the shadows wrapping around their ankles. "Sahlo Folina." Virgil says, and the shadows retreat. "Saahhhhhloooooooo... Fooolllllllliiiinnnnaaaaaaaa." he sings, clearing a path to the doorway.

 

"Shh he can still hear us." Logan whispers.

 

Patton and Nemo catch up to Logan and Virgil. "What does that phrase mean? Patton asks.

 

"Enable creative expression, the opposite of what this dark side does..." Virgil says. 

 

Nemo runs his hands along the door frame, he feels something, but he isn't sure what. "Virgil, can you sense his anxiety?"

 

Virgil nods and starts walking, muttering the phrase quietly under his breath.

 

"I have a bad feeling about this." Patton whispers holding onto Nemo. He really doesn't like the room.

 

"I know." Nemo says, holding him protectively.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This Chapter has torture in it so be careful while reading it.-Terra
> 
> TW: Bondage, Torture, Implied Non-Con, Non-Con Kiss/Marking

Virgil leads the group down the stairs slowly, taking in every crevice. He looks at Logan. "Which way?"

 

"I don't know I don't have to ability to see sense people. Follow the sense of anxiety and lies. I'm not useful." Logan covers his mouth.

 

Virgil looks at him shocked a moment before moving closer and taking Logan's hand. He leans up and kisses Logan's cheek. "You are useful." He says, looking Logan directly in the eyes. He doesn't let go of his hand as he starts moving to a corridor. "Let's all stick together. We may be able to cover more ground if we split up, but we're more vulnerable then. Point out each other's falsehoods. Do. Not. Leave. One. Another."

 

Nemo nods and grips Patton's hand tighter, following behind Virgil and Logan.

...

His red snake eyes glint in delight. Oh, this was  _very_  fun. They were going in the wrong direction, but that didn't matter. They were in his domain now...

...

They keep walking. _'Fake, not his Patton.'_ Patton shutters and leans on Nemo. "Tell me I'm not fake."

 

Nemo holds him closer. "You're not fake. You're mine, and I am yours. Nothing will ever change that."

 

Patton hums "Thank you"

 

 _'Too anxious, you're the bad guy, always will be. Just the villain. A nescience.'_ Virgil tenses and squeeze Logan's hand, feeding off his logical energy. "That was a long time ago. I'm not the villain. I'm not. I'm not..." he mumbles, looking down.

 

Logan pulls his face up and kisses him on the lips. "You were never the villain."

 

Virgil closes his eyes and leans his head on Logan's shoulder. "Okay..."

 

They keep walking. Virgil's heart races. They're close. They turn a corner and come to a dead end. Virgil's eyes widen, and he races forward, pounding his fists on the brick wall. "NO!" He screams. "HE'S RIGHT THERE!" He can feel the waves of anxiety rolling off of Roman in the room on the other side of the wall. "ROMAN!" He screams, though he knows Roman can't hear him. Nemo walks up and places a hand on the wall. 

 

 _'You're alone. You're not good enough. You'll never be good enough. You can't do anything right. You failed. You are a disgrace. You're ugly. A prince? Please. You have nothing prince like. Family? They abandoned you. Lover? He's_ dead _.'_

 

Nemo stumbles back, the lies too strong for his senses. He reaches out his hand to the wall again.  _'Falsehood.'_  He says in Roman's mind.  _'Every. Single. One. Of. Those. Falsehoods.'_

 

Roman struggles, he has to stay strong. Tears fall down his face, his insecurities not letting up but pushing harder. He about to give up when he hears a familiar voice. _'Falsehood. Every. Single, One. Of. Those.'_ It was Nemo, he's here, he going to save him. He not alone.

 

"Nemo is he ok?" Patton asks.

 

Nemo shakes his head. "No. He's getting weaker... He's almost slipped into-" he cuts himself off and bites his tongue.

 

"We will have to find another way in. They're no way we are breaking that wall." Logan says.

 

Nemo stands and walks over to Logan. "We won't be able to track him if this place is a maze. We'll have to take our best guess. We need you." he says to Logan. 

 

Virgil gets up and walks over, putting a hand on Logan's shoulder. "You'll notice things we won't." he says.

 

"Come on Lo uses that big brain of yours." Patton cheer. Logan took a deep breath.

 

"Ok" He looks around then points the way they came from. "This way" He holds onto Virgil hand and walks forward.

 

Nemo takes Patton and glances back at the wall sadly. _'We're coming for you.'_ He says to Roman before turning and following the others.

...

He laughs to himself. Though he can't see them, he can still sense and hear them. He follows them to and intersection. He smirks. This is really too entertaining. They're all so adorable, clinging to each other like little koalas... What would happen if they were separated? He grins and raises his hands and shadows dive between the two pairs, cutting Logan and Virgil off from Patton and Nemo. The walls between them solidify, each creating a path to opposite tunnels.

...

Nemo hears a scream from Virgil just before it's cut off. He spins around and sees Virgil desperately pounding on a tinted glass-like wall between them. He rushes to it and looks at Virgil's wild eyes. His mouth moves, but Nemo can't hear him. "Are you okay!?" Nemo shouts. 

 

Virgil can't hear him either but reads his lips. He nods and sees Nemo sigh. They both try running into the wall, but it doesn't work.

 

"It's toying with us." Logan looks at the tunnels. "Virgil stop hitting the wall you're going to hurt yourself. We have to go through the tunnels."

 

Patton holds onto Nemo. "Nemo I'm scare"

 

Nemo wraps his arms around Patton. "Shh... It's okay. We'll get to them." He looks up when he hears pounding. Virgil points at them then at the tunnel behind him. He then points to himself and Logan then the tunnel Logan was already headed to. He makes an intersecting motion with his hands. Nemo nods. "Come on."

 

Virgil walks back to Logan's side. "Okay. Let's go."

 

Logan and Virgil head down their tunnel. _'failure, you're failing Logic. They're all going to die because of you.'_ Logan puts a hand to his head and groans. _'2+2=6'_

 

Virgil looks at him. "Hey." He says, placing his hand over Logan's and looking at him. "It's okay. Breathe. Whatever you hear, just say it and I'll counter it. I've got you."

 

Logan rubs his eyes and blinks. "I think it’s trying to confuse me. 2+2 is 4, right?" Logan asks like a kid who is learning it for the first time.

 

Nemo grips Patton's hand so tightly he's afraid he's going to hurt the moral side, but he's scared of letting him go. _'A monster. Unworthy of love. He doesn't deserve you. Should have never told him. Now you're all in this mess. Everyone's suffered because of you.'_ Nemo shakes his head and bites his lip, unconsciously squeezing Patton's hand harder. "Not- true." He tears his gaze up wards, trying to stay alert and focus on things outside of his head.

 

"I love you, I love you so much. You make me feel happy and safe. I wouldn't trade you for all the cookies in the world. You're my hero." Patton leans forward and pulls Nemo into a kiss.

 

Virgil doesn't know whether to frown at the fact the Logan forgot simple addition or smile at how adorable he is. He cups Logan's face. "Yes. 2+2 is 4." He says, smiling at him.

 

Logan sighs in relief and keeps walking. _'stupid, you're losing it Logic. You're broken.'_ Logan repeats what he hears.

 

Nemo can't help but laugh and he holds Patton close nuzzling his hair. The lies are a little less louder now. "I love you too." He says. "And I think laughing helped."

 

Patton beams "In which river are you sure to find snakes? The Hiss-issippi River! What is a snakes favorite dance? The Mamba, what do you call a snake who works for the government? A civil serpent! What did the snake give to his wife? A goodnight hiss! What did the naughty little diamondback say to his big sister? "Don't be such a rattle-tail!" What does an exhibitionistic snake wear to the beach? A pythong. What do you call a snake that tells jokes? Monty Python. How do you measure a snake? In inches. They don't have any feet!" Patton giggles it’s been so long since he has made a joke.

 

Nemo falls to the ground, clutching his stomach, laughing so hard he is crying. "Can't- Omg- Patton! Can't breathe!" He says through fits of laughter. The lies are gone, all he can hear is Patton. And boy, does he love him, though he's gonna kill him with this laughing fit.

 

Patton laughs and kneels down to him rubbing his back. "Sorry love, I couldn't help myself. I've been practicing my snake jokes to _charm_ you."

 

Nemo bursts out in another fit of laughter and hugs Patton. "I- love you!" He says, gasping and kisses Patton's cheek.

 

Virgil shakes his head. "Is a formula broken just because the variables don't equate to the answer you wanted? No. The variables are wrong, not the formula. You are not broken." He says, wrapping an arm around Logan as they walk.

 

Logan leans his head against Virgil shoulder. "Thank you love."

 

Virgil leans his head against Logan's. "Of course." He says with a smile, intertwining their fingers. Up ahead the tunnel divides into two paths, the left one going down and the right one going up. Virgil glances at Logan.

 

Logan looks at the two paths. _'The deeper down they go the stronger its influence gets. Which means that Roman would be down unless that is what it wants you to think and trap you down where you have less power. but if we go up and Roman isn't there...'_

 

Virgil fidgets and closes his eyes, trying to sense the others. They're on equal level with Roman, but further away now. He senses hints of anxiety from Nemo and Patton, but overall, they're happy. Good. He opens his eyes and see Logan deep in thought. "It's a maze too... The right choice might not always be the obvious one..." He offers. "But then again... It knows that as well..." He groans. _'You're not helping. You just make things worse. You're leading him in circles and he's already confused.'_ He keeps quiet and lets Logan think.

 

Logan puts a hand on his shoulder. "Your right, neither will take us to Roman. He not on our side."

 

Virgil sighs. "Then which one do we go down? We still have to get back to Patton and Nemo."

 

Logan moves over to the wall. He pushes on it and a passage opens. Logan turns around and smirks at Virgil. Virgil grins and follows Logan through.

...

He listens and senses the two find the passage and smirks. He wasn't like some others who rushed into something without a plan. He didn't attack without precautions. But he also enjoyed a good game. He thrived off the exhilaration of the scheme. And the logical one was the most fun to play with. He enjoyed watching his mind work, thinking through thousands of possibilities and deciding on the best course of action. He would be a lovely experiment. Then again, this whole game was an experiment. He chuckles to himself and continues following them.

...

Patton and Nemo continue to walk holding hands Patton swings their arms. "You think Virgil and Logan and doing ok?"

 

Nemo thinks a moment. "I'm sure they're fine. Logan is smart, Virgil is cautious. They make a good team." He says with a faint smile. Suddenly, rocks start sliding on their right. Nemo grabs Patton and puts him behind him, bracing himself for any threat. A dark passage is revealed, and two figures walk towards them. "Who are you!?" Nemo demands.

 

"Nemo!?" 

 

"Virgil?" Nemo calls back, relaxing. Virgil runs out and embraces him. Nemo returns the hug. "Are you guys okay?" He asks. 

 

"Ya, what about you two?" Virgil asks worriedly, looking between them. 

 

"We're fine, except for Patton making me die of laughter earlier." Nemo says with a chuckle.

 

"Logan!" Patton runs up and hugs Logan. 

 

"Good to see you’re alright." Logan looks at Nemo "You haven't found Roman, yet it seems."

 

Nemo shakes his head. Virgil looks around. "I guess we keep going?" He asks, gesturing further down the tunnel.

 

Patton goes back to Nemo. "Ok Logan which way?"

 

"Which way did you come from?" Logan asked.

 

"That way" Patton point left. 

 

"Then we go right" Logan takes Virgil hand and starts walking.

 

Nemo takes Patton hand and walks behind them. He notices Logan's tense, for good reason, but still. He whispers to Patton. "You have any jokes for Logan?" He asks with a smirk.

 

Patton shakes his head. "Logan hates my jokes."

 

Nemo grips his hand and turns his face to look at him. "Falsehood." He runs his thumb over Patton's cheek. "He just acts like he doesn't like them, but he does. Trust me, I know." He says with a smile.

 

"Ok I'll try." He looks at Logan. "Hey Logan"

 

"Yes Patton" Logan continues to look ahead.

 

"Do you know what a light-year is?"

 

"Yes, Patton it's-"

 

"The same as a regular year, but with less calories." Patton smiles, Logan stop and tills his head up.

 

"Patton...I actually got that one." He chuckles "That was a good one."

 

Patton grows the biggest smile "My life is complete"

 

Nemo laughs and hugs Patton. Virgil glances back and winks at him. 

 

They continue walking, the tunnel taking a sharp slope downwards. Virgil stops and looks down it. He glances back the way they came. "It feels like we're moving away from him..." he says.

 

Nemo looks behind them as well, then back at Virgil. "But feelings don't always translate to reality." He points out.

 

Logan rubs his eyes and groans. _'You’re not going to find him. You’re going up you should go sideways. Go backwards. The sky is green'_

 

"Let's just keep going." Nemo says, trying to move forward, but Virgil stands in his way. "Virgil..." Nemo growls.

 

Virgil stands defiantly. "We wait and make a well thought out decision."

 

"You sound like your boyfriend." Nemo rolls his eyes. "Move."

 

"You're not my dad!" Virgil shoots back, panic rising in him. They shouldn't be fighting. They can't fight. They need each other. But he can't stop himself.

 

Nemo knows he should shut up, but something tells him he's saying the truth, that Virgil's just being a pain. "I'm dating your dad; therefore, I am also your dad. Roman said so." 

 

Virgil grits his teeth, tears of frustration forming in his eyes. He shoves Nemo back, causing the half snake to stumble and glare at him. "ROMAN IS THE REASON WE'RE HERE!" He screams at him.

 

"THEN WHY WON'T YOU LET US KEEP TRYING TO FIND HIM?"

 

"BECAUSE YOU'RE WRONG!"

 

Nemo stares in shock, then his eyes narrow and he growls. "I'M WRONG? I'M WRONG?" He gets up and approaches Virgil.

 

Patton stands between Nemo and Virgil. "Guys stop this will solve nothing." 

 

Logan starts swaying he feels disorientated. _'Roman is downstairs you better go get him.'_

 

Virgil and Nemo continue to glare at one another. “Fine.” Virgil spats. “If you want to get lost and trapped, be my guest! See if I care!” He says, stepping aside. 

 

Nemo grabs Patton’s wrist and pulls him towards the slope. “Come on.” He grumbles, still glaring at Virgil. 

 

Virgil huffs. “Logan, what do you- Logan?”

 

Patton looks at Virgil then turn to walk towards the slope. He sees Logan.

 

 _'Go down, go up, turn sideways.'_ Logan takes a step and falls over rolling down the slope. 

 

"LOGAN!" Virgil runs after him, sliding down the slope and stopping next to his boyfriend’s limp body. “LOGAN!” He holds his face and shakes his shoulders.

 

Nemo’s heart breaks at seeing Logan fall, but his body doesn’t move to help. He just stands there, watching.

 

Logan groans and opens his eyes. Patton drags Nemo over to Logan. "Logan are you ok?" 

 

Logan head sways and he laughs "There 3 of me" he laughs again "When did that happen?"

 

“Umm...” Virgil glances up at Patton then back down. “Do you remember your name?” He asks Logan.

 

"I'm Logan and your" he pokes Virgil nose "my boyfriend" 

 

"He doesn't have amnesia, he just confused. Like on laughing gas."

 

Logan giggles "Hey Pat, Pat, we have the same glasses."

 

Virgil smiles. “Well... that’s good and bad.” He frowns. _‘You were losing Logic, but you didn’t care to notice. You lost him now. You can’t save him. You can’t save anyone.’_ Virgil breathes deeply, heart racing, trying to keep from falling into a panic attack. “Logic is down... we just have anxiety, morality, and deceit to stop insecurity. Nice.” He picks Logan up and starts walking back up the slope but can’t. He slips and drops Logan. “Omph!”

 

Logan giggles "Looks like you fell for me" Logan giggles. Patton normally would laugh but this was serious. 

 

"Doesn't look like we can go back up." He looks at Logan. "Here let me try something." He sits Logan up. "Logan look at me." Logan looks up. "Snap out of it" He slaps him across the face hard. Logan hits the ground.

 

"Ah" he sits up rubbing his face. "What happened? Who slap me?"

 

Virgil jumps at Patton’s sudden harshness. Nemo just laughs. 

 

“P-Patton did.” Virgil says, still stunned. “You weren’t... acting right.”

 

Logan rubs his head. "So, I'm losing my mind, how do you all feel?" He gets up from the floor.

 

"Pretty good actually, that was fun." Patton smirks.

 

Virgil looks at Patton nervously and holds Logan closer. “If you hurt my boyfriend again, I swear...”

 

Nemo chuckles and walks closer. 

 

Virgil looks at them all nervously. “We’ve been here too long. We’re not getting any closer to Roman. I can’t trust any of you!” He just realizes he said that out loud.

 

Patton blinks "Oh kiddo your right." He holds onto Nemo "I'm sorry that I slap you Logan."

 

Logan rubs Virgil shoulder "It's alright Patton, it did get me out of trance. We don't have that much time left come on." Logan starts pulling Virgil with him. "Virgil breath with me."

 

Virgil leans his forehead against Logan’s and follows his breathing. 

 

Patton looks at Nemo "How are you feeling?" He slowly follows behind the other two dragging Nemo.

 

Nemo stands off apathetically. “Meh.”

 

Patton thinks then he smiles. "How does a snake shoot something? With a boa and arrow! How do you know it's time to buy a new pair of shoes? When you're old ones have snake eyes. What kind of snake keep its car the cleanest? A windshield viper! What snake is a member of the band? The RATTLEsnake! What do you get when you cross a snake and a pie? A PIE-THON! Why don't snakes need to weigh themselves? Because they have their own scales." Patton list out jokes in hope to get an emotion out of Nemo.

 

Nemo bites his lip, trying to not smile, but ends up laughing, hands on his knees trying to breathe. Virgil can’t help but overhear and laugh too.

 

"There my Nemo" Patton giggles and kisses his cheek over and over again.

 

Logan smirks at Virgil. "Feeling better love?"

 

Virgil nods and kisses Logan.

 

Nemo purrs and holds Patton close. “I’m sorry about that...”

 

"It's fine, let's just fine Roman so we can get out of here." Patton scratches his scales.

 

"I second that Patton."

 

Virgil looks around. “Well... there’s no way back, so I guess the only way is forward.” He starts running alongside Logan. 

 

Nemo runs with Patton. 

...

He laughs at their antics. Little children... that’s what they are. Playing right into his web. He leaves them for a bit, going back to Roman and the shadows recede, giving the prince a rest. He comes up and places his hand on Romans cheek. “How do you feel, my love?” He says mockingly.

 

Roman gasps for air, he looks at him with teary red eyes. He wants to tell him off but all he can do is wine. He wants this nightmare to be over. He moves his head away from him.

 

Nico laughs and lets him move his head away. He sits on the bed and strokes his hand down Roman’s chest, just to let him know he’s still there. “They’re looking for you.” He says, laughing at Roman’s hopeful expression. “But they’ll never find you.” He leans up to him, tracing his neck. “You know why?” He smirks. “Because you’re  _mine_.”

 

Roman glares at him. _'They will fine me, am not the embodiment of hope for no reason.'_

 

Nico laughs. “Hope? You? Please, dreams maybe. But dreams are often false, as is your hope.” He continues petting Roman, hands never leaving his body.

 

"Palvehoop" he tries to ignore his touch, _'Stay strong Roman, they're coming.'_

 

Nico smiles too sweetly at him. “Is your poor tongue hurting? Am I just that good?” He smirks and removes the gag.

 

Roman eyes widen he knows what he about to do. He moves his head out of the way. _'Not again'_

Nico traces Roman’s lips with his fingers, smirking. “Already so well trained...” he remarks.

Roman flinches at the touch. _'calm down Roman, you'll get through this.'_

 

Nico sighs and lays on top of him, smirking as Roman squirms and tries to get his weight off of his injured stomach. Nico bandaged it when they got here and made sure the damage wasn’t too severe. But that doesn’t mean it won’t still hurt. He hums and licks Roman’s ear. “I can see why he liked you. Nico, that is...”

 

New tears form in his eyes. “SHOP UP!” _‘How dare he talk about him.’_

 

Nico sits up and looks down at Roman, smiling. “Aww... Did I find a weak spot? Does it hurt to see the face of your love torturing you, and yet you know he’s dead?” His red eyes showing his joy.

 

Roman is full of rage, he wants to kill him so badly. He tries to move to no avail. "I path youth"

 

Nico chuckles. “I’m sure you do...” he suddenly bends down and kisses Roman deeply, catching him off guard. He straddles Roman, keeping him still. He tickles Roman’s swollen tongue with his own, grinning at the pained reaction.Roman bites his tongue. Nico screams and slaps Roman to get him to let go. He pulls back and hisses, covering his mouth in pain.

 

Roman smirks at seeing him in pain. _'Yeah, how does it feel?'_ Nico's eyes narrow and he slaps him again, then sits directly on his stomach, hand still over his own mouth.Roman let out a cry of pain. “Goth ov mee”

 

"Noth." Nico says, wincing as he speaks. _'You've been bad and deserve to be punished.'_ he says in Roman's mind before pressing harder on the wound, Roman screams.

 

Nico grins and gets off of him, sitting beside him and leaning down over his chest, wrapping his arms around him. _'So loud... You sound so beautiful when you scream for me...'_

 

 _'Get out of my head you sociopath'_ Roman didn't like him talking straight into his mind.

 

Roman can hear a faint chuckle. _'Then you shouldn't have bit my tongue..._ ' Nico says, tracing Roman's jaw line. _'So handsome...'_ he says, gazing at him. _'You do realize that when you fell in love with Nico, you were actually falling in love with me? He was under my control...'_

 

_'Shut up, it's not like that anymore. Nico is a better man than you will ever be.'_

_'Oh, what a sweet lie to believe.' he says, moving down to Roman's neck. 'Such a helpless romantic, aren't you? You were so lonely you couldn't help but fall for_ **_me_ ** _.'_

‘SAHLO FOLINA, SAHLO FOLINA, SAHLO FOLINA, SAHLO FOLINA.’

Nico visibly grimaces and leaves Romans mind. He grits his teeth and starts undoing Roman's shirt. _'What is he doing?'_ Roman heart begins to race.Nico slides Roman's shirt up his arms till it can't move past his binds. He leans down and pokes and prods the wound.Roman squeeze his eyes shut trying really hard not to make a sound. _'You can get through this, they’re on their way'_ Nico frowns at not getting a reaction and flicks the wound.Roman bites his cheek. _'I won't let he win.'_ Nico sighs and slaps the injured area.Roman lets out a muffle cry.

 

Nico smiles and lays down next to him, tracing patterns on Roman's chest. _'It's gonna be okay, darling. You're mine now.'_ he says in Roman's mind before quickly retreating.


	8. Chapter 8

Virgil sees the tunnel open up ahead and runs towards it. He skids to a stop in the middle of the intersection. "WHAT THE HECK!?" They're back where they started. The stair case to Nico's room is on their left.

 

"We made no process." Logan says in frustration. "Where is he hiding where we can't find him?"

 

Nemo looks around. He walks over to the passage they just came out of and builds a small mound of rocks. He goes to the one they entered and built another. 

 

"What are you doing? We don't have time for decorations!" Virgil says annoyed.

 

"I'm making trail markers." Nemo shoots back. "We know where these two leads. There's three more options."

 

"We don't have time to cheek all three. Virgil, Nemo can you sense where Roman is?" Logan asks.

 

Nemo shakes his head.

 

"Yes, but we already found out that the tunnels go in a loop. The closest one to him might not actually let us get to him!" Virgil says, hitting the ground with a thud and drawing his knees up. He needs out. Now. He can't take this anymore.

 

"Virgil!" Logan kneels down to him. "We need to regroup, everyone back upstairs."

 

"But what about Roman?" Patton asked.

 

"We are no uses to Roman if we all go mad down here." Logan picks up Virgil holding him close. "I am not losing any one else down in this hell hole." Logan starts walking towards the stairs.

 

Patton sighs he holds onto Nemo hand. "Come on he's right."

 

Nemo looks back at one tunnel sadly. His eyes widen as he sees a flash of yellow before it quickly disappears. He must be imagining things. He lets Patton lead him upstairs. The shadows are thick, blocking their exit. "Sahlo Folona." Nemo says with a sigh and the shadows clear.

 

They make it back to the Mindscape hallway. "Let’s rest and regroup in an hour. We can think of a plan then. I'm too tired to think right now. Me and Virgil will be in my room. You two do what you want." Logan starts walking to his room still carrying Virgil in his arms.

 

Nemo leans tiredly against a wall and closes his eyes. He suddenly opens them again. "You know I love you, right?" he asks Patton.

 

"Of course, I do. Come on let’s go to my room, you look tired." Patton tries to lead Nemo to his room.

 

Nemo shakes his head. "Need... To stay on guard..."

 

Patton shakes his head "I'll stay on guard, you can't help anyone if you're don't have the energy for it."

 

Nemo shakes his head again. "You need to rest too." He points out.

 

"Alright how about this. We have an hour, you rest for 30 and I'll rest for the other 30. Sounds fair?"

 

Nemo sighs and nods, then slides down the wall and curls up on the carpet.

 

Patton giggles "Not on the floor silly" Patton picks him up and carries him to his room. Laying him down on the bed.

 

Nemo mumbles. "D'nt wanna leave youuuuuuuu..."

 

"I'm not leaving I'm right here." Patton scratches his scales "Now sleep"

 

Nemo sighs and closes his eyes. He tries to fight it off but can't help it as sleep eases over him. "Love... You..." he mumbles.

 

Patton kisses him on the cheek. "Love you too" He sighs and frowns _'I can't go back in there'_

...

Virgil clings to Logan and starts breathing easier as soon as they enter Logan's room. He sighs and leans his head against his boyfriend. "Thanks." he mutters.

 

Logan sits on his bed and massages Virgil head. "No problem, we all needed a break."

 

"What are we going to do about Roman?" Virgil asks. It's been at least two hours since Nico took him... Who knows what he's done to him.

 

"I don't know." Is all Logan could say as he slowly lays down taking Virgil with him. He wasso tired. Virgil eyes slowly slide closed and he snuggles into Logan.

 

They're out in seconds. Patton stays awake checking on the others seeing them sound asleep. Patton can't stop thinking about that slap. It was so mean even if it did help. He liked it. He like the sting on his hand when he slapped Logan. He shivers at the thought. _'Logan was turning into insanity and I... was turning into malice.'_

...

 _They left you._ ' Nico says in Roman's mind. _'All of them. Gone. Couldn't take it anymore, I suppose.'_ He's still making lazy stripes with his fingers across Roman's midsection.

 

Roman sighs _'He's lying, they won't leave me'_

 

 _'Am I? How long has it been?'_ He changes the pattern from stripes to spirals. _'You feel weak without your shirt, don't you? Vulnerable. Oh, but you hide it so well...'_

 

_'Just shut up, I know what you're trying to do, it won't work. We're opposites I resist you.'_

 

Nico chuckles. _'Oh, how foolish of you. You know nothing of me. You can't even see me. That's why I must possess Nico or Nemo to accomplish my goals. Nico is your opposite, and you know what they say about opposites attracting... I am nothing. Null. Void. Nonexistent, but there.'_

 

 _'Does nothing have a name?'_ Roman asked sarcastically.

 

 _'I would tell you... But you already know...'_ he glances up at Roman to read his face and see if he's smart enough to figure it out. _'My presence grew after Thomas and his boyfriend broke up...'_ he says in Roman's mind slowly.

 

Roman closes his eyes _'Depression...'_

 

He grins. _'You're smarter than I thought... I might keep you around for a bit longer then.'_ he traces Roman's jaw again.

 

_‘Why do you keep me around? Am I just that much fun to play with?’_

He nods and gets up, leaning over Roman. _'With you gone, the others are losing hope. They can't figure out how to find you. They don't even realize how staying down here so long is affecting them. Those idiots think the effects of the room end as soon as they step foot into the hallway.'_ he taps his fingers together in delight. _'I must be honest, I find you all very entertaining. However, ... You especially. You dream of the fight, the glorious death fit for a prince, defending one's kingdom. You'd be remembered...'_

Roman glares at him _'You won't win, they will find a way.’_ He shakes his head _‘Why Nico? Why Nemo? What you couldn't control anyone else?'_

He pushes down harshly on Roman's chest, burying the other into the mattresses. _'Because...'_ he seethes. _'A part of me is lies and insecurities. I take either form and feed you poison. With no hope, whether that hope be true or false, Morality grows sad and distant. Anxiety heightens and indirectly feeds me... And Logic... Oh sweet Logic... He slowly, but surely. Loses. His. Mind.'_ he finishes, their faces barely inches apart.

Roman looks at him, his heart pounding, hard to breath.

 

He smirks at Roman and leans in and kisses him, gently biting the other's lip before pulling away. _'But you, Roman... You are my favorite...'_

 

_'Oh, do tell'_

He runs a hand down the side of Roman's face. _'Admit it. A part of you likes this... Likes not having control. Likes these fleeting touches. Likes this amount of attention...'_

_'Aww you like me'_ he says sarcastically _'Guess I can't help it, I am amazing'_

Nico smirks and leans down, biting Roman's neck.

Roman closes his eyes and grimaces _'Having fun there?'_

Nico huffs and moves to a different spot, biting harder. _'You're mine now. There is no such thing as escape...'_

His heart beats faster but he ignores it _'We'll see about that'_

Nico feels Roman's heart beat faster and smirks. _'That's either exhilaration or fear.'_ He sits up and taps Roman's chest. _'Either way, not very prince like...'_

_'Like I give a fuck on what you think is prince like'_

 

 _'Actually, you do. You just refuse to admit so...'_ he lays down, resting his head on Roman's chest. _'I wish I could untie you without you trying to kill me... It was nice to be able to hold you and you hold me those few nights...'_

_'Looks like someone is lonely.'_

Nico shrugs. _'Maybe, maybe not, but I have you know, you're mine. So ,it doesn't matter now.'_ he leans down and kisses the old bites.

Roman sighs all he can do now is wait for the others to find him.


	9. Chapter 9

Nemo bolts out of bed. "NICO! ROMAN!"

 

Patton shoots up "Nemo, Nemo calm down. What's wrong?"

 

Nemo spins around, panting. He finds Patton and grips him close. "R-Roman!"

 

"What about Roman?" Patton was scare but also hopeful that Nemo might have found Roman.

 

"Have to- find!" he shakes. He can't breathe. What's wrong with him? Why is he so weak?

 

Patton rubs his back. "Shh we know, breath. We'll find him."

 

Nemo takes deep breaths, still holding on to Patton. "How- how long?"

 

Patton looks at his clock. "You slept for 45 minutes." He massages his skull "You might need more."

 

Logan wakes up feeling worst somehow, he can't think. He gets up from the bed and walks straight into his door. _'Well that didn't work, let's try it again.'_ Logan keeps running into his door. _‘This will work eventually'_

 

Virgil wakes up from the banging. He rolls over and watches Logan repeatedly walk into his door. "Logan?" he questions. He feels sick, like something is completely wrong. 

 

Nemo shakes his head. "No... Need to go!" he tries to get up, but his legs get tangled in the sheets.

 

Patton shakes his head trying to keep Nemo down. "Sleep". Nemo are can't keep his eyes open as they close on their own and he falls back a sleep. Patton gets out of bed and goes to Logan room. "Guys I think-Omff" Logan runs into Patton when he opens the door. 

 

"Ah, I knew I just needed to keep trying."

 

"Logan?"

 

"Good morning Patton-"

 

"It's night"

 

"No time to talk they’re aliens to fight and lands to discover!" Logan pushes past Patton and heads for the kitchen. Patton looks confusedly at Virgil.

 

Virgil's breathing is ragged, and he looks at Patton scared. "Help..." He whispers. "Don't- know- what's happening?"

 

 _'I'm losing all of them. Sorry Nemo...'_ Patton goes over to Virgil. "Virgil, I need you to trust me. I'm going to try something I've never done before. I'm going to touch you now." Patton puts his hands on his shoulders and takes a deep breath.

 

Virgil feel his anxiety fall, actually he doesn't feel anything. He feels numb, then he feels a slow wave of emotions enter him. Happiness, calm, determine, peaceful.

 

Patton looks up at him with a neutral expression. "Virgil, I need you to listen to me. Stay here and look after Logan and Nemo. We are all falling apart without Roman. This feeling won't last forever. I give it two hours before you start feeling anxious again. I'm going to go find Roman. Do. Not. Follow. Me. I don't have much time."

 

Virgil looks up at him. "Patton... No..."

 

"There no other way." He kisses him on the forehead.

 

"THE EMPIRE HAS FALLEN; THE KINGDOM IS IN RUINS" Logan screams from the kitchen.

 

"Keep Logan away from anything dangerous." Patton gets up and runs out of Logan room. He doesn't stop running until he gets to Nico room. He enters and locks the door behind him.

 

Virgil sighs and gets up, running to the kitchen and tackling Logan down. "VIVA NO REVOLUTION TODAY, MISTER!"

 

Patton walks down the stairs. He makes it to the intersection and stops. "Alright enough is enough. Let's get this over with."

...

Nico suddenly sits up from his slumber on top of Roman. He looks to the door of the room, all senses trained outside, further into the castle.

 

Patton boredly stands and waits. "Come on, I don't have all day."

 

Nico's eyes narrow and he slips off the bed. He glances back at Roman before disappearing and reappearing in the shadows near Patton. He keeps his distance as he can't see the moral side, but he can sense his presence. He doesn't say anything, just watches.

 

Patton looks down at his yellow shirt. He rolls his eyes and changes it back. "I'm sorry I forgot that you couldn't see me. Is this better?" He turns and faces Nico. "Come out I know you're there."

 

Nico slowly leaves the shadows and walks towards Patton, head held high. He looks at him suspiciously. "Why are you allowing me to see you?"

 

Patton shrugs "Where's Roman?"

 

"An answer for an answer." Nico smirks.

 

"I knew you wouldn't come out otherwise. Your turn"

 

"In bed." Nico raises a brow. "You're alone?"

 

"The others couldn't handle it. Where can I find Roman?"

 

"Down here." He smirks. "You'll either find him or get lost yourself. Good luck!" He disappears.

 

"Asshole" Patton turns and looks at the three tunnels that are left. He picks the middle one and starts walking.

 

Nico follows him from a distance watching him closely. Something is up. This isn't the Patton he saw an hour ago. This one is apathetic, yet he still searches for Roman.

 

There's a large wooden door on Patton's right. Patton enters the door.There's a short hall with doorways to extravagant rooms on both sides. He passes by one and sees Roman at a fancy dinning table, hair slicked back, outfit tight and clean.Patton raises an eyebrow at it. "Yeah right" Patton keeps walking.

 

Nico is mildly impressed. Whatever happened to Patton... It's interesting to say the least. He keeps to the shadows.

 

The next-door way leads down brick stairs. There's a single torch on the wall before the darkness. Patton takes the torch and goes down.As he walks down the stairs and into the hall, the path becomes narrower. He can barely move to either side before his shoulder runs into the wall. He finds another doorway and goes through it. The air is immediately colder. This room is much wider than the hall. He lifts up the torch and sees iron bars reflecting the light. He moves closer and touches the cold metal. He steps back and goes to the opposite wall to find another cell. He finds there are six cells in total.

 

Patton moves on with caution looking at each cell to see if he finds anything. The torch light reflects off a scrap of fabric with gold trim inside one of the cells. He enters it and bends down, finding it to be Roman's shirt, stained with blood and torn, the sash missing.

 

Patton pockets it and keeps moving. _'Where are you?'_ He walks to the end of the hall and finds a normal bedroom door. He feels a hand on his shoulder. 

 

"I would definitely go in there..." Nico whispers into his ear.

 

Patton swings around and punches him in the face. "Don't tell me what to do."

 

Nico stubbles back into a wall and clutches his face. "Shoulda... seen that coming..." He grimaces.

 

"If you know what's good for you, you will craw back to the hole you craw out of." Pattonglares at him.

 

Nico laughs. "Oh, how threatening." He mocks and disappears.

 

Patton rolls his eyes and goes through the door. He sees Roman tied to the bed, bandages on his stomach bleeding through, small marks around his neck. There's a red sunflower on his chest and a note.Patton picks up the note and reads it.

 

_‘Had fun with you all. Hope to play again soon._

 

_P.S. Forgive Nemo for any trouble he causes. Or not. I don't mind.'_

 

Patton pocket the note and unties Roman. He picks him up and sinks out into the common room.


	10. Chapter 10

"LOGAN LOGIC SANDERS! SIT DOWN THIS INSTANT!" Virgil shouts exasperated at the careless logical side. He feels the atmosphere change and turns around. "Patton! ROMAN!" He bends down, touching Roman's shoulder. "Roman?"

 

Roman is out cold. Patton drops Roman and throws the note on the ground. "I'm going to my room, don't disturb me." Patton walks upstairs.

 

Virgil looks up at Patton, surprised. "O-Okay."

 

Patton opens his door and sees a still sleeping Nemo. He sighs and crawls into bed. He pulls Nemo close and falls asleep.

 

Nemo grimaces. He barely wakes when Patton crawls into bed. Normally being held by him is comforting, but right now... He can't help but feel scared. He desperately ignores it and goes back to sleep.

 

Virgil grabs the note and puts it in his hoodie pocket. He moves Roman to the couch and starts working on him. He hears a crash from the dining room. "LOGAN! GET OVER HERE AND HELP ME!"

 

Logan walks into common room "Yes my lovely love, love. Oh, do I get to play doctor?" 

 

Virgil resists the urge to snap at him. It's not Logan's fault. He sighs. "Yes, we're playing doctor. You're my nurse. I need you to go get the first aid. Can you do that?" He looks up at Logan.

 

Logan nods his head. "Okie dokie" he goes over to the kitchen and comes back with the first aid kit. "Here you go sweetie"

 

Virgil smiles at him. "Thank you, nurse." He smirks. "Can you get a bowl of water and a rag, please?" He opens the kit and starts taking the old bandages off.

 

"Of course," He makes the trip and comes back. He puts it down. "I'm I doin a good job?"

 

Virgil nods and hands him the old bandages. "Throw those away and then wash your hands." He takes the washcloth and gently wipes the wound. He frowns when Roman doesn't respond at all. The blood has mostly clotted, so there isn't a terrible amount of bleeding now, but he doesn't want to risk infection.

 

Logan takes the bandages and throws them away. "He's a heavy sleeper, isn't he?" Logan giggles.

 

Virgil chews his lip and puts on fresh bandages. "Ya..." He moves up to Roman's neck. His eyes narrow as he feels anger rise up in him, recognizing the marks to be bites. He hands the bowl to Logan. "Can you rinse the rag and put fresh water in this?" He says, checking Roman's pulse and looking for other injuries.

 

Logan takes the bowl and moves it to the kitchen. "This is fun, you’re a great doctor"

 

Virgil smiles slightly. "Thanks."  _I just hope I'm good enough..._  He runs his hand over Roman's face, remembering the panic he felt from just being on the other side of the wall from him. He wonders what Roman had to go through. There's still tear stains on his cheeks, and red at the corners of his mouth like something was pulling at it. He doesn't see any more bleeding, so he grabs a blanket and puts it over Roman, placing a pillow under the prince's head.

 

Logan wraps his arms around Virgil. "I love yoooouuuuuu"

 

Virgil smiles and kisses his cheek. “Love you too, Lo. You did good.” He reaches his arm up and scratches Logan’s hair. He had his other hand on Roman’s hair petting him gently.

 

"Where Patty?" Logan rests his head on Virgil head.

 

“Sleeping. He asked us to leave him alone.” He says, hoping Logan will listen.

 

"Aww is he not feeling well?" Logan looks disappointed.

 

“No. He just needs to rest, as does Roman.” Virgil says, growing tired. ‘ _Have to stay awake...’_

 

Logan nuzzles his neck. "You should sleep, you sleepy head."

 

Virgil shakes his head. “No. Have to stay awake.” He remembers the note and pulls it out to read it. He grits his teeth as he does. “Play? Play!? Is this some sort of game to him? What am I saying? Of course, it is!” He finishes reading it and his breath catches. “NEMO!” He shoots up off the ground and races up the stairs. He quietly enters Patton’s room.

 

Patton and Nemo are asleep in bed. Logan makes it next to him. "Is everything ok?"

 

Virgil grips his shirt, trying to calm his racing heart. He quietly walks closer to Nemo and squeezes the lying trait’s shoulder. Nemo moans and rolls over more. Virgil clenches his jaw and grabs the other, pulling him out of the bed and letting him fall to the floor. 

 

“Omph!” Nemo looks up. “Vir- “

 

Virgil grabs his collar and lifts him up, looking him in the eyes. “Hurt Patton and I will kill you.” 

 

Nemo stares back, shaking in fear. He tries to hold back the tears that are starting to form. “V-Virgil! What- what did I do?” 

 

Virgil holds up the note and lets Nemo read it. His eyes widen, and he looks between the note and Virgil. “What did I do? I don’t remember anything! I'm sorry! I didn’t want to hurt you! Didn’t- want- “he collapses against the bed.

 

Patton wakes up and sits up. He groans "What did I say about disturbing me?" He glares at Virgil.

 

Virgil looks up. “Did you read it?”

 

"Yeah I read it." Patton rolls eyes. "I don't know what it's talking about. Nemo has done jack shit to me. Now get out before I do." He glares at Virgil his eyes like daggers.

 

Logan grabs Virgil arm. "Oohhh Patty is maddy, we need to leavey." Logan starts pulling Virgil out. Virgil stares in shock at Patton and lets Logan drag him away. "Patty is scary when he mad." Logan giggles. "Patty strong"

 

“Ya... dad mode gets activated or somethin...” Virgil says, rubbing his neck. 

 

Nemo stares at Patton from the floor. “P-Patton? Are you... okay?”

 

Patton groans "No, I need to rest. I brought Roman back how about you go check on him." Patton face plants into his pillow.

 

“You what?” Nemo asks, looking between him and the door. “Okay.” He gets up and leaves, catching up to Virgil and Logan in the hallway. “Have you ever heard Patton swear like that before?” Nemo asks, looking between them. 

 

Virgil thinks for a moment then shakes his head. Logan shakes his head. "Nopey, Patty hasn't been that maddy since we were kids." he giggles "Stay on his good side." He leans onto Virgil.

 

Nemo glances at Logan confused. “What’s up with him?” He asks Virgil. 

 

Virgil shakes his head. “Nico’s room corrupted him so now he’s acting like Insanity...”

 

“Oh.” Is all Nemo says, he spots Roman on the couch and carefully walks over. He strokes Roman’s forehead and spots marks on his neck. He looks up at Virgil. “Are those?”

 

Virgil nods, and Nemo’s hands clench into fists.

 

Logan sways back and forth. He giggles "I'm tired" he starts falling over.

 

Virgil grabs him and lays him down on the couch then sits next to him with a sigh. “Nemo... sorry about earlier...”

 

“It’s fine.” He looks at them all worriedly. 

 

“Can you watch him? Thanks.” Virgil slumps against Logan. 

 

“Wait, what? Virgil?” Nemo looks at the now sleeping side and sighs.


	11. Chapter 11

Nemo watches the others sleep for 30 minutes. He hears a groan, he turns his head and Roman is moving.“Roman?” Nemo asks gently. He lays a hand on Roman’s shoulder.

 

Roman eyes shoot open, he quickly sits up and moves away from the touch. He scarcely looks around. His heart his pounding. _'Where? the commons?' Nemo? How? When?'_

 

Nemo pulls back. “Hey. Shh... it’s okay. You’re home. You’re safe.”

 

Roman relaxes as he starts crying. _'It's over, oh god its over'_

 

“Shh... it’s okay.” Nemo scoots closer. “Can I touch you?” He asks quietly.

 

Roman stares at his hand with fear, he shakes his head.

 

“Okay.” Nemo says and moves away. He then offers Roman more blanket. “Just breathe.”

 

Roman slowly takes the blankets and wraps himself in them. He curls in on himself and tries to breath. _'everything is ok, you're safe now. You survive.'_

 

Nemo watches him sadly. “Do you want some water?”

 

Roman nods his head. _'When was the last time I drink anything?'_

 

Nemo gets up and goes to the kitchen. He grabs a glass and fills it up. He watches the water and quietly thinks for a moment. _Roman was so scared... what happened down there?_

 

Roman looks around him. _'Logan and Virgil are sleeping, Nemo is in the kitchen. Where is Patton and Nico?'_

Nemo comes back and hands him the glass then sits next to him. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Roman shiver and shake his head _'I would love to talk about being torture. I also didn't learn more about our little dark side.'_ Roman hopes Nemo can hear his lies. He doesn't want to use his voice.

 

Nemo nods and thinks to himself. “What about him?”

 

_'He is not depression.'_

Nemo’s eyes widen slightly as he thinks it over. He nods. “That makes sense why he’s always been after you...”Roman raise an eyebrow. Nemo glances up. “You’re creativity. You encompass Thomas’s hopes and dreams. To shackle that would start the process and- “he stops when he sees Roman’s expression. “Sorry.” He mumbles. “It’s just... it’s starting to make sense now.” He sighs. “What else?”

Roman thinks for a second _'he doesn't like me.'_

Nemo's head shoots up. He looks at Roman for a minute. "Oh..." he blinks and looks down again, not sure what to say. A part of him is scared that Nico never existed, that it's always been this dark side.

_'he doesn't get power from you, Nico, and Virgil'_

Nemo nods. “Again, makes sense...” _‘Why didn’t I know these things? They’re so obvious. I should have figured them out before now...’_

_'I got more. I'm not wondering on where Patton is or how I got back.'_

"From what I know, Patton brought you back. He's in his room right now, sleeping. He was tired, everyone was after the first time we went in. We went around in a maze and got close to you but could never get to you... And then Logan decided we needed to leave. We were getting short tempered with each other, Logan was acting like a child, Virgil was on the verge of a panic attack, and Patton- I'm not sure what was happening with Patton. But when Virgil came in his room he swore. And not children swear either... It- shocked me. I've never heard him swear like that..." Nemo says, playing with his fingers.

_'well that's normal for him. I'm not surprised that Patton found me when you three couldn't.'_

Nemo nods. "I'm worried... Virgil found a note and apparently Patton read it too. It said something about having fun playing with us and to forgive me if I did something. Or not. He really didn't care." He shakes his head. "Virgil dragged me out of bed because he thought I did something based off the note. I didn't remember doing anything, so then I was scared. Virgil looked ready to kill. In fact, he said he'd kill me if I hurt Patton..." he drifts off, looking at the bottom of the stairs.

_'Virgil isn't tense, I would take it seriously.'_

Nemo groans and rubs his head. Decoding falsehoods is tiring. “Now I know how you all felt when I spoke in falsehoods all the time.” He chuckles then looks up at Roman. “Why don’t you just talk normally?”

Roman sighs he looks at Nemo. He sticks out his swollen tongue that has teeth marks and dry blood on it.

Nemo's heart skips a beat. "What-" He looks up at Roman's eyes. "I'm sorry." He whispers.

Roman sticks his tongue back in his mouth and shrugs. He sips his water. _"I didn't bite him back'_

Nemo laughs. “Serves him right.”

 

Logan slowly opens his eyes. He turns his head and sees Roman. His eyes widen "ROMAN" he jumps up and quickly moves towards him.

 

Roman was startled and threw his glass behind him breaking on the ground behind him. His eyes wide and panic quickly filling him. He heart pounded, and his breath quickened. Logan stop before he could get to him. "Roman?" He slowly stretches his arm out towards him. Roman panic grew. "SHOP!" Logan pulled back immediately.

 

"Roman what's wrong?" Logan asked in worry.

 

Virgil startles awake from the shattering glass. “What?” He looks around. “Roman? Oh, you’re awake!” He sees Roman shaking. “Roman, What’s wrong?”

_'They’re too close, too close. can't handle it. need space, need space NOW'_

Nemo stands up and grabs Logan. “Lo, leave Roman alone for a bit...” he says. He looks back at Roman’s wide eyes.

 

Logan backs away. "What did it do to him?" he whispers as he watches curl up on himself. He looks back at Virgil. "Careful I don't think he wants us near him."

_'Breathe, breathe, god I can't breathe. Why am I panicking? BREATH DAMN IT'_

“Hey, Ro. Look at me? Breathe with me, okay? In for 4...” Virgil says, starting the exercise.

 

Roman forces his head to move up. He looks at Virgil who is a good distance away. They all are, he looks at Virgil chest and tries to match it.

“Good... hold for 7.” Virgil taps his own knee for seven beats. “And out for 8.” He exhales slowly, tapping his knee for 8 beats. “And again.”

Roman follows it takes a few minutes, but he calms down. He looks at Nemo _'don't tell them to stay back'_

 

Nemo nods. “We’ll give you some space. Just tell us if we’re too close and we’ll move.” Virgil nods in agreement.

 

"Roman are you alright?" Logan still concern but made sure not to move closer.

 

Roman nods he looks behind him at the broken glass. _'opps'_

 

Nemo lets Logan go and moves to clean up the glass. Virgil sits back down on the couch, still keeping a good distance between him and Roman. “It’s okay.” Virgil says.

 

Roman sighs and buries his head. Logan sits next to Virgil. "Do you remember what happened?" Roman nods his head. "Do you want to talk about it?" Roman shakes his head. "Roman can you talk to us?" Roman takes a second but shakes his head. Logan frowns.

 

“Just let him rest.” Nemo says to Logan and Virgil. 

 

Virgil suddenly looks up at Logan. “Hey, you aren’t acting like a child anymore!”

 

Logan groans and hides his face. "That was so embarrassing, but yes with Roman back I was finally able to recover. I'm sure Patton is recover well too." he looks at Virgil "How did you stay calm for so long? You should have been on the ceiling full of anxiety.”

 

Virgil shrugs. “I wasn’t, I was a mess, but somehow I managed to act okay.”

 

"How did Roman get back? If I was a child and you were watching me." He looks at Nemo "Did you?"

 

Nemo raises a brow. “Did I what?”

 

"Who found Roman?" Logan asked but already getting the impression it wasn't Nemo.

 

Nemo shakes his head. “Patton did.”

 

Logan groan and cover his face. "Patton...why are you like this?" He sighs "At least it worked."

 

"Ya, but what's the price?" Nemo says sadly. "He wasn't the same when he came back..."

 

Virgil nods. "He swore a lot and when we asked you about the last time you heard Patton swear like that you said something about him being dangerous back during childhood..."

 

Logan sighs "I guess it's time you know the truth. Patton is the strongest side. If he really wanted to him could beat all of us in a fight. When Thomas was a kid me and Patton fought a lot. Sometimes we got physical, Patton always won. Patton had a short temper back then. One day we got into a fight and he broke my arm. After that day Patton swore to never fight again. He worked on his temper and now we have the Patton we know and love today. He didn't want you to know because he didn't want you to be scare of him." Logan chuckles "He still apologize to me about that day. He says it reminds him to not lose his temper."

 

Virgil stares at Logan while Nemo looks at the ground. "Emotions are powerful..." Nemo mumbles. "I just wonder if feeling is more powerful than not feeling..."

 

"Sorry, I know that's a lot. I assure you that Patton would never hurt us. He seems to be doing a good job at it now given the circumstance. Given him time he will be back to himself in no time. He should heal faster since he is in his room."

 

Virgil shakes his head. "No. It's fine. I'd rather know than not."

 

"Ya. At least getting him in there wasn't such a struggle this time." Nemo says. He looks over to Roman. "How are you feeling?"

 

Roman gives a thumbs up. _'I'm not surprise but I hate to know this information. OH! Don't tell them what I told you about Depression.'_

 

Nemo gives him a look. "Why not- OH! DO TELL THEM!" He mentally kicks himself.

 

Virgil looks up. "What?"

 

"We've been communicating by falsehoods. Roman learned that the 'force' that keeps possessing Nico and I is Depression. It keeps going after Roman because he is creativity, hopes and dreams, and so on. And..." he hesitates and glances at Roman. "It... Seems to like him..."

 

Logan beams "This is great!" Roman gives him a look. "Oh, sorry not about that last part but now we know what it is. We can find a way to fight it. It is sad to believe that Thomas has depression, but he can get anti-depressions and see a psychiatrist about it. We can't get rid of it forever, but we can weaken it now."

 

Nemo nods. “Exactly. You’ll have to tell Thomas though...” he trails off and sighs. “What about Nico? He’s still unaccounted for.”

 

"I don't know" Logan looks at Roman. "Why don't you just talk to us Roman?"

 

Roman buries his face and gives an awkward shrug. He didn't want to worry the others.

 

"He got hit pretty hard and accidentally bit his tongue. It just hurts to talk." Nemo says. Lie of omission. 

 

"Oh." Virgil says, casting a sympathetic glance at Roman.

 

"Oh well you should go to your room to heal. That will help your tongue. Here let me look at it." Logan moves a little closes and Roman shakes his head quickly with fear. Logan moves back. "Sorry my bad." 

 

_'I would hate to go to my room but please leave me alone. I would hate the company.'_

 

Nemo nods. "He wants us to come with him." he says, looking at the others.

 

Virgil nods. "Of course, whatever will make you happy." Logan gets up and waits for Roman unsure to help him up or not.

 

Roman takes a deep breath _'You can totally touch me now and I would love it. I don't think I'm touch sensitive.'_

 

"You can't touch him right now. He hates it. He thinks he's touch sensitive." Nemo repeats.

 

Virgil gets up and stands next to Logan. He looks at Roman sadly. "Roman... What happened? Like... I know a bit from your injures. But what really happened?"

 

Nemo sends him a glare, but he ignores it. Roman sadly shakes his head. He gets up from the couch and starts making his way upstairs. Nemo follows behind Roman a way back, keeping the others from accidentally getting too close. Virgil moves to follow Nemo. They get to Roman's room and Nemo sees Roman standing in front of his open door, staring inside. "Roman?" he questions, not getting a response. He moves to look inside and gasps. Siting on Roman's bed, wearing a gray cloak and yellow sunflower is- "Nico!?"


	12. Chapter 12

Nico looks up at them with scared eyes. He sees Roman and tries to speak, but nothing comes out.

 

Roman heart starts pounding. _'which one is it?'_ Roman moves away until he hits the hallway wall. 

 

"Roman what's wrong?" Logan continues to keep his distance as he watches him start to panic.

 

Nemo raises his hand, signaling the others to stay back. He slowly approaches Roman at an angle. "Hey. Shhh... Breathe." he keeps his hands where Roman can see them and in a non-threatening position.

 

Nico slides of the bed and slowly makes his way out. "Romanth?" he asks quietly, tongue still hurting.

 

Raman closes his eyes and slides down the wall. 'can't, can't, can't, can't' he curls up on himself.

 

"Roman!" Nemo says, becoming more panicked.

 

Nico kneels down and crawls closer. "Hey... Shhh... Roman breath. Whatever it was is over." he says sadly. He wishes he could remember, but if this is how Roman reacts just from seeing him, what happened? What did he do? Did he hurt him? Did he hurt his love? That thought makes his heart ache. "Shh... Think of the garden." he grimaces. His tongue really hurts. Why does his tongue hurt? He pushes through. Roman needs him. "The garden that you worked so hard on. That beautiful garden where we danced that first night... And kissed..." he watches Roman carefully.

 

Roman starts crying he doesn't know if it's from the panic or hearing his love sweet voice. He thinks about the garden. Focus on the memory of making it. He thinks about is date but then he reminded of something. _'you were actually falling he love with me'_ he starts panicking again.

 

Nico frowns. "Whoever told you that was lying." His heart is racing, and his breathing quickens. He doesn't want to lose Roman. Not like this. "I love you. I would do  _anything_  to protect you. I am extremely sorry I have failed you..."

 

Roman shakes his head "Firgilth" he needs Virgil.

 

Nico looks up and motions for Virgil to come over. Virgil wearily let’s go of Logan's hand and walks closer. He can’t help but glare at Nico and look to Nemo for confirmation. Nemo nods and Virgil bends down, Nico scooting away to give him room.

 

"Hey. Ready? In for 4..." Virgil makes a beat on his knee.

 

Roman listens to the beat and only the beat. _'focus on Virgil'_

 

"Hold for 7." Virgil repeats the beat for 7. "Out for 8." he drums his fingers for 8 beats. "And again."

 

Roman slowly starts to calm down, he keeps his eyes close worry of having to starting all over again. He becomes more relaxed.

 

"Good job..." Virgil says, leaning back to rest on his arms.

Nico stays quiet, glancing up at Nemo, not sure what to do. Nemo looks back at him cautiously, but also with a hint of remorse? He looks over at Logan.

 

"Nico can I talk to you, alone?" Logan can tell that Nico presentence isn't helping Roman. Depression really mess with him. "You two make sure Roman gets in his room.” Nico nods and gets up to follow Logan. Virgil and Nemo continue to encourage Roman.

 

Once they're alone Nico speaks. "What happened? What did I do to him!?" he asks distressed.

 

"Don't know, Roman won't tell us. Also, you did nothing. Depression did, you just happened to be what he looks like at the time. What I know is that you and Roman we're in his room when Roman scream for help. Me and Virgil came into to help. Depression then took you and Roman back to your room. It took a while, but Patton was able to bring Roman back. What we got from his injuries is that he has been stab in the stomach, he bit his tongue at some point, and he has bite marks on his neck. He is also touch sensitive so don't touch him or get to close." He looks back at Nico.

 

"Depression? What? My room? WHY DID YOU ALL GO IN THERE YOU COULD HAVE DIED!" Nico exclaims.

 

"Nico calm down. There was no other way. We had to get him out." Logan said trying to calm him down.

 

Nico breathes deeper. "I am calm, I'm just concerned. Who is Depression?"

 

"Depression is the 'force' that has been taken over you and Nemo. I don't know how but Roman found that out. I have also been told that Depression likes Roman."

 

Nico's eyes narrow and his hands clench into fists. "I'm gonna kill it." He mumbles.

 

"Nico stop, there is not a lot we can do now. I can get Thomas to take anti-depressants. That should weaken it, but for now we need to make sure Roman is ok."

 

Nico sighs. "Fine. But you know it's gonna hit harder now that it's made itself known, right? It's going to try to prevent Thomas from getting help. It's going to make Thomas lie and-" His eyes suddenly widen, and he looks up. "Nemo." He whispers. 

 

"Nico calm down I'm sure it won't attack again so soon." Logan tried to rationalize for him and himself.

 

Nico shakes his head. "But Pat- Nemo- Virgil- anxiety feeds lies... lies feed insecurity... insecurity brings down pride... low pride brings down self-worth, self-worth brings down happiness... sadness becomes too much and causes numbness... numbness clouds logic..." He sinks to his knees. "Calm down." He whispers to himself. "Can't- breathe- calm- please..." He suddenly looks up at Logan. "We need to get Roman creating again. Right now, Thomas is proud of nothing. He's insecure about his own body. He needs something to be proud of. He needs  _purpose_."

 

Logan nods. "Let's check on Roman. You stay behind me though. " Logan helps him onto his feet. 

 

Nico grips Logan's arm before hissing and recoiling. He holds his hand to himself, examining it. "Hey... How long... Was Roman captured?"

 

"3 hours" Logan looks at his Nico hand.

 

Nico closes his eyes. He's starting to see glimpses of what happened, what he did to Roman. His love. His prince. His everything. He lets Logan take his hand and look at it.

 

"Nico how do you feel?" Logan asks.

 

"Sad and scared." Nico whispers. "I- I'm starting to remember... What happened... What I did to him..."

 

"Do you need a minute?" Logan asks

 

Nico shakes his head. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry... Please don't leave me!"

 

"I'm right here. I won't leave." He pulls him into a hug, "It wasn't you"

 

Nico grips Logan with his good hand, hiding his injured one and curling into Logan. His breathing is still shaky. He remembers Roman screaming, his fearful tear-stained eyes. The sting in his hand after slapping him. Violating him with a kiss. Biting him. Biting his tongue. Biting his neck. Pain. All he brought him was pain. He is a monster. He hurt Roman. He doesn't realize he's crying, doesn't hear Logan. He's too lost.

 

"Nico? Nico? You can't hear me." Logan picks him up and starts moving he is not useful in this situation.

 

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." Nico whispers hoarsely over and over. He buries his face into Logan. "Sorry... Sorry... Sorry..."


	13. Chapter 13

(meanwhile)

Roman enters his room and looks at his bed. He snaps his fingers and it turns it into a red and gold couch. He relaxes and lays down.

 

Virgil looks at Nemo and mouths _'Why?'_ Nemo shrugs and brings two chairs for both of them. He summons one of his snakes and pets it. Virgil looks at him curiously, so he summons another one and gives it to Virgil. "You want one?" He asks Roman, holding up the snake. "Snakes are often used to help with anxiety and PTSD. Their scales and movements can be calming." He says, trying to get Roman to accept some sort of touch. Humans weren't meant to be alone, and all of the sides were very cuddly. For Roman to not want anyone around him is understandable, but it will also shock his mind to not be touched for so long.

 

Roman shakes his head. "No thank you Nemo I'm good." Roman mouth didn't move but they could all hear his voice.

 

Virgil's head snaps up and looks around the room then at Roman. "I thought you couldn't talk?" Nemo watches Roman's mouth carefully.

 

"I'm using my room to vocal my thoughts. I rather not use my actual voice." Roman say as he cuddles with a pillow. "Anyway, I don't want anything touching me. I've had my full share of it."

 

Nemo nods. "Okay. Do you want anything? Food?" He offers.

 

"That would be great, but I can't eat anything with my tongue right now. It's to swollen I'll just end up biting it." He sighs. "Just stay here, I don't want to be alone."

 

"What about some soup? You need something Roman." Nemo says, looking at Virgil. 

 

"I'll stay with you while Nemo is gone. You won't be alone." Virgil says.

 

"Alright I'll try. Thank you"

 

Nemo nods and walks out and down to the kitchen, setting the snake around his shoulders.

 

Patton sneaks down into the kitchen and sees Nemo. He sheepishly walks up to him. "Hey"

 

Nemo looks behind him. "Hello, Patton." He says, offering a smile. "How are you feeling?" He turns to face him, examining him.

 

"Normal...sorry I snap at you..." Patton looks at the ground in shame.

 

Nemo moves closer and wraps his arms around Patton. "It's okay, love." He says, nuzzling Patton's hair. "We all got pretty messed up. It's not your fault."

 

Patton holds onto Nemo. "How's Roman? I kinda just drop him and left."

 

"He's... recovering." Nemo says. "He's highly touch sensitive. We can't go near him without him going into a panic attack. But he doesn't want to be alone either. He's in his room right now with Virgil. I came down to get him some soup. It's all he can eat right now because he bit his tongue and it's swollen. He can't talk either."

 

"Yeah that sounds bad. I found him tie down to a bed."

 

Nemo pulls back slightly and looks at Patton. He thinks for a moment. _‘That's why he changed his bed to a couch...’_ He thinks for a bit longer but doesn't say anything.

 

"I only got to punch him once before he ran away." Patton doesn't like hurting people, but he makes an exception for people who hurt his family.

 

"Punched... Nico?" Nemo questions.

 

"He sneaked up on me" 

 

Nemo nods. "We found out what's been controlling me and him..."

 

"Oh, what is it?" Logan enters the room.

 

"Oh, Patton thank goodness I need your help." He shows Nico, Patton looks at him. 

 

"What happen?" Patton ask as he walks over. 

 

"He’s remembering what happen to Roman and isn't taking it well." Patton nods.

 

"Give him to me" Logan tries to hand him to Patton.

 

Nico glances up and sees Patton. He remembers his eyes filled with rage just before punching him. He screams and clings to Logan. "I'M SORRY!!! PLEASE!!! I'M SORRY! I DIDN'T MEAN TO HURT HIM! PLEASE!!!" 

 

Nemo runs over, blocking Nico's sight of Patton and holding the insecure side between himself and Logan. "Hey. Shh... It's okay. Nico breathe..." He says, running a hand through Nico's hair and rubbing his shoulder.

 

"Oh right, my bad." Patton says back. 

 

Logan holds onto him. "Patton isn't going to hurt you." He tries to reinsure him.

 

Nico shakes his head. "Hurt him... I hurt him!" 

 

Nemo takes Nico from Logan and holds him, rocking him. "Shh... You didn't hurt him... It wasn't y-"

 

"YES, IT WAS!" Nico screams. Nemo looks at Logan for help.

 

"I can't reason with him like this. I'll go get Virgil." Logan runs upstairs. Patton goes into the kitchen and starts making tea.

 

Nemo sits down on the couch and holds Nico on his lap, still rocking him. "Nico... I need you to breathe. Okay?"

 

Nico shakes his head. "I'm a monster."

 

"No, you're not. Keep talking bad about yourself and I will physically fight you."

 

"Kill me."

 

"Nico, no."

 

"Just-"

 

Nemo pushes Nico's face against his chest, cutting him off and preventing him from talking. "Just shut up. Breathe."

 

Nico whimpers. "Why did I hurt him?" He mumbles. 

 

"You did not hurt him. You were being controlled. You had no choice." Nemo says, massaging his back. "Shh... breathe."

 

Nico closes his eyes and tries to ignore the memories and focus on Nemo. He tries to breathe, but just ends up gasping.

 

 _'This is destroying both of them...'_ Nemo thinks.

 

Logan comes into Roman room. "Virgil, we need your assistance." 

 

"What’s wrong?" Roman asked

 

"Nico remember what happen and isn't taking it well. He won't see reason and Patton can't get near him. I'll stay with Roman."

 

Virgil glances back at Roman then nods at Logan. He gets up and heads downstairs.

 

Logan tosses a sketch book at Roman. "Do me a favor and draw something. Whatever you want." Roman picks up the book and nods. He starts making a beautiful sunflower.

 

Virgil sees Nemo with Nico on the couch. He carefully slides in beside them. He slowly places a hand on Nico's shoulder. Nico flinches but doesn't move away, just stuffing his face further into Nemo's chest.

 

"Hey..." Virgil says softly, rubbing small circles into Nico's shoulder. "It's okay..."

 

Nico shakes his head. "It's not okay. I hurt him. I hurt Roman. I violated him. I broke him. I can't- I can't help him. I can't help anyone. I-" he pauses for a breath. 

 

Virgil cuts in before he can start speaking again. "You did not hurt him. Depression did. You did not violate him. Depression did. You did not break him. Depression tried. But Roman his strong. He's recovering and getting better. He held out. He survived. He did that because he loves us. He loves you. He wouldn't want you talking about yourself like this." He moves his hand to rub Nico's back as Nemo combs his hair. 

 

Nico sighs and hiccups. "He's still scared of me..."

 

"Yes. And you’re scared of Patton. That's normal. You'll both get better, I promise." Virgil says. Nico tenses at the mention of Patton, gripping Nemo's shirt tighter. Nemo holds him closer and Virgil wraps his arms around both of them, rubbing his cheek against Nico's. "You're gonna be okay." Virgil whispers. "Roman is gonna be okay. It's all gonna be okay."

 

Patton heart stops _'Depression did'_ He hold onto counter. _'It's my fault. I created depression.'_ He sinks back into his room. He sits on his bed hugging a pillow. "don't cry, don't cry, don't fuel him. God It's my fault. I made this mess. I gave Thomas depression."Patton picks up a bottle. "don't be sad" The bottle fill with glowing blue liquid. He puts it on his shelf in his closet. He sighs. "I need to fix this"

 

Nemo senses someone sink out and looks behind them to see Patton is gone. He frowns. There's nothing he can do at the moment, with Nico on him and Virgil wrapped around them. He hopes when he does get the chance to check on him it won’t be too late.

 

Nico slowly calms down, breathing becoming steadier. He wants to thank Nemo and Virgil, but the quiet is so comforting. Thankfully, neither of them breaks it, so he won't either. Nico's eyes slowly slide closed and his body slumps against Nemo. Virgil looks up at Nemo and smiles. 

 

Nemo smiles back and nods. "Can you finish the soup? I'll take him to bed." Virgil nods and gets up, heading to the kitchen. Nemo picks Nico up and gently carries him upstairs, he stops outside Roman's room, looking for Logan.

 

Logan looks up and sees Nemo with Nico in his arms. He looks back at Roman. "Are you ok with sees Nico?" 

 

"As much as I want to I can't at the moment I need more time." 

 

"That's alright Roman." He looks back at Nemo. "Put him in my room. Rational thought will be good for him."

 

Nemo nods. "Virgil's bringing you soup, Roman. Also, Logan? I think something's wrong with Patton... I'm going to go check on him after I put Nico down."

 

"Again? Alright keep him from doing something stupid." 

 

"Oh, Nemo before you go, take this." holds out his sketch book. Logan picks it up and hands it to Nemo. It's open to a page of a beautiful golden sunflower that says "I love you Sunshine-Roman"

 

Nemo takes it and smiles. "I'm sure he'll love it." Nemo says, looking up at Roman before heading down the hall. He goes into Logan's room and sets Nico on the bed, tucking him in. He sets the sketchbook open on the bedside table and heads out, closing the door quietly behind him. He goes to Patton's room and knocks. "Pat? It's Nemo. Can I come in?"

 

Patton puts on a smile and opens the door. "Hey Nemo, How’s Nico?"

 

"He's okay. Fell asleep. I put him in Logan's room." Nemo answers.

 

Virgil passes by Nemo with the soup, giving him a curious glance. 

 

Nemo shoos him and Virgil nods, going into Roman's room. 

 

"Room service." Virgil says mockingly, carefully handing Roman the soup.

 

"Can I come in?" Nemo asks Patton.

 

"Oh sure" Patton steps to the side. "What's up?"

 

Nemo walks in, leaving the door cracked. "I'm... worried about you." He says, looking into Patton's eyes, searching for the truth. "I don't know what it is, but... something... doesn't feel right. Like you're sad... But you refuse to be."

 

"I'm fine, just stress" _'I'm hiding something from you'_

 

"Yes. I can tell." Nemo says, taking Patton's hand. "I want you to know I'm here for you. We all are. But we can't help if you won't let us." He says softly. "Please let me help you..."

 

Patton sighs and looks at the ground. "I'm sorry, it's all my fault"

 

Nemo tilts his chin up to look at him, showing him, he isn't mad. "What is?"

 

Patton pulls away "I created Depression."

 

Nemo still holds his hand. "What do you mean?"

 

"Depression is an emotion so I made him. I don't know when, but he came from me." he groans "It's why I'm tired all the time he's feeding off me. Off my sadness, that's why I can't be sad. I can't keep feeding him. He's hurt everyone and it's all my fault!" Patton sounds more frustrated than sad.

 

“Patton...” Nemo says softly. “Depression is not an emotion. It’s the absence of emotions. Not letting yourself be sad is actually feeding it more than you being sad.”

 

Patton looks up at him in shock. _'How could I be so stupid? I've been making it worst. IDIOT!'_ Patton pulls himself out of Nemo grip and swings open his closet door revealing hundreds of blue bottles.

 

Nemo’s eyes widen. “What are those?”

 

"Bottle up Sadness. Years of it." Patton looks scare his heart pounding. He sighs "This isgoing to hurt" Patton snaps his fingers and all the bottles disappears. Patton hits theground as an ocean of sadness hits him and he start uncontrollably crying. His room turn to a shade of blue.

 

Nemo kneels down by him in an instant. “Patton! No! You can’t just take it all on at once!” He holds him close. _‘He’s going to go numb! He’s going to go numb!’_

 

Patton holds on to him with a strong grip. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry" _'It hurts everything hurts. This is what I get'_

 

“Shhh... shh... It’s okay. Just hold on to me. Don’t go numb. Please. Don’t go numb. Hold on for me.” Nemo says, rocking Patton and feeling himself begin to cry too. He wonders how the others are doing.

 

Patton cries loudly, he shivers as he starts to turn blue. 


	14. Chapter 14

(Meanwhile)

Roman is drawing Nico. Logan watches him. "How do you feel?"

 

"Better" He looks at Logan and smirks "So you were acting like a child? I would have love to see that." Logan blushes from embarrassment.

 

Virgil groans. “If it happens again I will GLADLY let you babysit him.” He says with a smirk. Virgil looks at the drawing. “That’s really good!”

 

Roman smirks "Thanks, I'm trying to get move comfortable with seeing his face. It's not his fault this happen, he shouldn't pay for it." Romans says as he continues to shade the picture.

 

Virgil nods and moves away. He reaches up and touches his cheeks. _Why are they wet? Wait, I’m crying?_ He sits down, sobbing quietly. _Why? Why am I sad?_

 

"Virgil what's wrong?" Logan asked.

 

“I don’t- know!” Virgil sobs louder, pulling his hood up and curling up.

 

Roman starts crying "Why am I crying?" 

 

Nico groans and turns over. He wakes and sits up. Where is he? Why is his face wet? He spots something on the bedside table. He picks it up gently and sees the drawing and note from Roman. He hugs the sketchbook to his chest and cries harder.

 

They hear a cry. Logan looks at the door. "Patton" He gets up "Stay here" and runs out. Logan goes over and swing open Patton door. "PATTON" He sees a blue Patton crying his eyes out with an also crying Nemo. Logan face felt wet he’s crying too.

 

Nemo looks up at Logan. “Help- too much- going- to go numb.”

 

"I"M SORRY" Patton cries. 

 

Logan runs in. "Patton let go your hurt him." He struggles with Patton grip but gets him off of Nemo. Logan grabs onto Patton and sinks out with him. The room turns back to its normal color and Nemo stops crying.

 

Nemo gasps and clutches the ground, a few last sobs racking his body. He sits up and looks around. “Lo-Logan?” Virgil’s tears stop. He gasps and tries to calm himself. His head is spinning. He looks over and sees Roman isn’t much better. Nico still cries loudly, holding the sketch book.

…

Logan and Patton sink into the subscape. "What were you think?" Logan cries "Why are you crying?" 

 

"Bottles" Logan groans

 

"Patton you hypocrite! You bottle your emotions. Why?"

 

"I-depression-me-had to stop"

 

"Patton you idiot you can't take that much at once you effected all of us."

 

"I"M SO-RRY" Patton cries harder squeezing Logan. Logan kept wiping his eyes, he hates crying. 

 

"You can't keep doing this. You need to stop throwing yourself from one end to the other. Your embalmed is the reason Depression got as strong as he did."

 

Patton turns bluer "I KNOW, I"M SORRY" Logan rubs his back. 

 

"Let it out. All of it" Patton cries harder. 

 

“It hurts" 

 

“I know"

…

Nemo shakes his head and stands shakily. He makes his way to Roman’s room and sees Virgil and Roman recovering from crying as well. 

 

Virgil looks up at Nemo. “What happened?”

 

“Patton’s been bottling his emotions because he thought sadness fed Depression. I told him absence of emotions feed Depression. So, he went and took all the sadness built up over the years and absorbed them all. It’s too much and affected us all. Logan took him to the subscape. I don’t know whether to bring them back or not. Patton can. Not. Go. Numb.” Nemo says.

 

“Given them time, if you bring him back now we'll just started crying again." Roman said as he picks up his sketch book.

 

“But- “

 

“Roman’s right. Give them some time. Logan knows what he’s doing.” Virgil interrupts Nemo. 

 

Nemo growls and clenches his fist. “WHAT DOES LOGIC KNOW ABOUT EMOTIONS?”

 

Virgil glares at Nemo. “Get. Out.” 

 

Nemo hisses and walks out, slamming the door and storming down the hall.

 

Nico hears the yelling and cries harder. “ROMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNN!” He wails.

 

Roman hears Nico. "Virgil can you check on Nico? I think I just heard him cry my name.”

 

Virgil sighs. “Okay.” He makes his way to the door and stops. “I’m not upset with you, just... Nemo is being unreasonable... okay I’m going now.” He goes to Logan’s room and finds Nico crying. He slowly makes his way to him and sees him clutching the sketchbook. 

 

“R-Ro...” he whimpers. 

 

Virgil gently sits on the edge of the bed. Nico doesn’t look at him. Virgil sighs. “You wanna see him?” Nico looks up. Virgil nods. “Okay. Hang tight.” He gets up and goes back to Roman’s room. “Can Nico come see you?”

 

Roman takes a deep breath and mentally prepares himself. "Ok, just make sure he keeps his distance. I'm not ready to be touch yet."

 

Virgil nods and goes back. “You can come in, just keep your distance.”

 

Nico climbs out of the bed, clutching the sketchbook close, tears still running down his face as he follows Virgil. Virgil walks into the room and Nico stops in the door way, breath catching when he sees Roman. He doesn’t move.

 

Roman smiles when he sees Nico but frowns when he doesn't see him move. "What's wrong sunshine? Did you not like the drawing?" Roman sees that he is clutching the sketch book.

 

Nico blinks and finally breathes. Virgil comes and leads him to a chair next to the couch. “No, I did.” Nico finally says. “I love it. So much. Almost as much as I love you.” He says, looking up at Roman. “I’m so sorry I hurt you.”

 

Virgil gives him a look. “Nico... we talked about this- “

 

“No. It was my fault. I wasn’t strong enough. I let my guard down. I. Hurt. You.” Nico says, looking directly at Roman, clutching the sketchbook. “And I. Am. So. So. Sorry. And I know sorry isn’t enough- “

 

"Love, I don't blame you. I can never blame you. I know you would never hurt me. He told me you were gone forever. Please don't let him be right." Roman hug his pillow.

 

Nico shakes his head. “No, he was lying. I’m right here. I’m never leaving you again.”

 

Roman relaxes, he looks at Nico and he starts to cry. He hides his face. "I'm sorry, I'm sorr-" Roman voice cuts off as he continues to cry. _'Be strong Roman, they need you to be ok, but I'm not ok. I'm not ok and it hurts. I want to hold him, but I can't. I can't hold my love because of what he did to me. I can't even be in my bed. I'm on a couch, a stupid couch,_

 

_I'm so weak. I can't even talk to him, because of my stupid tongue. I hate this, I hate so this. I feel so violated, why wouldn't he stop touching me? I'll never be able to kiss him again without thinking about it.'_

Seeing Roman cry makes Nico start crying again. "It- It's okay. It's okay to not be okay. It's okay to be weak."

 

Roman just shakes his head. His sketch book falls out of his hands revealing a beautiful picture of him and Nico surrounded by red and gold sunflowers. He doesn't bother to pick it up.

 

Nico looks up at Roman then back down at the drawing. He bends down and picks it up. He traces his hands over it. "It's beautiful..." he whispers.

 

Virgil sits to the back of the room, mostly ignoring them to give them some space, but not leaving Roman alone with Nico.

 

Roman wipes his eyes. "Thanks..." He still won't look up.

 

Nico looks at him. He turns the page and grabs a pencil and starts drawing.

 …

Logan still holds Patton in his arms. Patton has turn back to his normal colors. "Logan, I think I'm going numb." Logan sighs.

 

"Switch with me."

 

"You told me not to do that."

 

"We can't afford you going numb, especially now. I can be numb. I've done it for years and its only temporary." Patton sighs and holds onto Logan arm. Logan feels is emotions drain from him. He hasn't felt this cold in years. He falls into a neutral expression. "Patton"

 

Patton looks nervous at him. "Yes Logan"

 

"Do me a favor and stop jumping into situation head first. Your actions have cause great problems for us and is the reason that we are in this mess." Patton shrinks into himself.

 

"Yes Logan"

 

"Good, now let's go before anything else bad happens." Logan stands up and puts his hands behind his back. He looks at Patton waiting for him to get up. Patton sees this and gets up putting a hand on his shoulder. They sink into the commons.


	15. Chapter 15

Nemo is in the commons, throwing pillows in frustration, narrowly missing the TV and other break able objects. He feels someone behind him and he spins around, pillow in hand, ready to throw it at Virgil when he sees Logan and Patton. "PATTON!" He exclaims, dropping the pillow and running to embrace him. He hugs him tightly and kisses his cheek.

 

Patton should be happy to get a kiss from his boyfriend but he not. It takes him a second to figure out why. _'I have Logan’s feelings, Logan doesn't love Nemo. He loves Virgil. I love Virgil.'_ Patton tries to play it cool _'It’s just temporary'_

 

Logan stands and watches them. "I thought I told you to keep him from doing something stupid."

 

Patton turns to face Logan. "Logan don't, it's not his fault."

 

Nemo pulls back, sensing Patton's discomfort. "No. He's right. I failed you Patton... I'm sorry..." he says, looking down in shame.

 

"Stop, it was my fault I didn't think it through. I'm the one who should be sorry."

 

Logan looks and sees a mess of pillow. "I see you made a mess in the common room.”

 

Nemo glances behind him at the pillows laying everywhere. "Oops." he says sheepishly.

 

“Well, I'll leave you to clean that up. I'll be in my room if you need me." Logan leaves not really caring about the two sides he just left behind. He had work to do.

 

Nemo watches Logan leave then looks back at Patton. "What happened?"

 

"We switch emotions...I started to shut down after crying so we switch. I have Logan’s emotions while he has my numbness." Patton looks down sheepishly.

 

Nemo sighs. "I knew that was going to happen..." he stays silent for a moment. "So... Logan's emotions? What's that like?"

 

"Calmer, more control, a strong love for crofter jam" Patton smirks at him.

 

Nemo laughs. "I'm sure there's still some in the cupboards if you wish to indulge. I won't tell." he winks then looks around the room. "And I guess I'll clean up." he starts picking up pillows.

 

"Thanks Nemo" Patton goes to the kitchen and picks up Logan favorite jam. He grabs a spoon and starts eating finally realizing why he loves it so much.

 

Nemo finishes getting the pillows back in place, feeling a bit guilty and childish for throwing a tantrum in the first place. He goes to the kitchen and leans on the counter. "So... How's the emotion switch affect Logan?"

 

"Logan is uses to being numb. He did it for years believing that Logic has no emotions. It took a long time, but I finally convinced him to try using his bottle up emotions and he's done well. I think he feels like he is falling back into an old habit." Patton eats another spoonful of jam. "Well he would if he could feel."

 

"Oh." Nemo says, standing there awkwardly. "Do you, uh, wanna check on the others when you're done with that?" he says, motioning to the jar.

 

Patton looks at the jar. "I don't see why I can't take it with me" Patton stands up and starts walking up stairs. "Come on"

 

Nemo follows him up the stairs to Roman's room. They see Nico in a chair next to the couch Roman is on, drawing. Nemo glances to his right and sees Virgil. Virgil sees him, and he narrows his eyes, putting his attention back on his phone.

 

Patton sees Virgil and starts blushing _'Omg was he always this cute?'_ Patton shakes his head and focus on Roman. "Hey buddy, how are you feeling." Roman gives him a thumbs up even though he isn't ok.

 

Nemo gives Patton a look, overhearing his thoughts about Virgil. He resists the urge to growl. He then looks at Roman, frowning slightly, wishing there was more he could do. Nico looks up at them, startled. He sees Patton and tries to stay calm. Nemo walks closer to him. "Shh... You're okay. He's not going to hurt you." Nico nods, still nervous.

 

"Sorry about that Nico." Patton looks at Virgil again before forcing himself to turn away. _'God Logan loves Virgil more than I love Nemo. I'm impress actually, though it is very distracting.'_

 

Nemo squeezes his eyes shut. _That didn't hurt. At all..._

 

Nico relaxes a bit. "It's fine. I deserved it."

 

Patton looks back at Nico. "What are you drawing?"

 

Nico looks over his drawing for a moment. "Something special." he says before handing it to Roman. It's a sketch of two silhouettes dancing in a garden under moonlight.

 

Roman looks at it and smiles as he holds it to his chest. "Thank you, I love it." Nico smiles.

 

"Aww that so cute." Patton looks at Nico. "Is it ok if I come closer?"

 

Nico glances up at Patton for a moment before nodding. Nemo goes back to hangs out by the door.

 

Patton moves closer sitting in an empty seat and continues to eat his jam. He tries really hard not to stare at Virgil and his cute hair style and his cute face and Patton mentality slaps himself. _'Stop it he’s taken, by the guy who actually loves him.'_

 

Nemo clenches his jaw and leaves. Virgil glances up and notices Patton staring at him. "Pat? You okay?"

 

Patton starts to blush "Ye-ah I'm good, how are you?" _'You sound stupid stop talking'_

 

Virgil's eyes narrow and he stands up, putting his phone away and walking closer. "Are you sick?"

 

Nico looks between them, then gives Roman a look as to _'what is happening?'_

Roman gives him a _'I have no idea look'_ as he watches Patton and Virgil. If he didn't know better, he would think that Patton has a crush on Virgil.

 

Patton heart start to beat faster. "Nope, not sick, but uh I got to go do... a... thing..." Patton gets up and runs out of the room dropping his crofters.

 

Virgil looks at the other two. "What was that?" he asks, picking up the Crofters. "And why was Patton eating Crofters?"

 

Nico just shrugs. Roman sits up. "I have no idea. He was so fluster" Roman laughs "It's almost like he had a crush on you or something. As for the crofters I have no idea, but Logan isn't going to like it. That's his favorite. Where is Logan anyway?"

 

Virgil thinks for a moment, getting worried. "I don't know..." he sets the Crofters on Roman's desk. "I'll be back." he says before racing down the hall.

 

Nico looks back at Roman. "You okay?" he asks concerned. "If you need me to leave I can. It won't hurt me, I promise."

 

Roman looks at the picture in his hands and smiles. "You can stay"

 

Virgil sees Logan's door closed. He knocks on it. "Lo?" he calls.

 

Logan answers the door. "Yes? Hello, Virgil can whatever you’re going to say wait? I'm very busy at the moment."

 

Virgil frowns. "Not really... Patton was acting weird. Like..." he hesitates, not wanting to make Logan jealous. "Like he... Liked me..."

 

"Ah I see, I knew this would happen. It's nothing to worry about. Now if you excuse me I have better things to think about." Logan closes his door.

 

"Lo- wait!" Virgil tries desperately. He places a hand on the door. "Lo?" No response. He feels like crying but buries it. He slowly makes his way back to Roman's room.

 

Nico looks up from a braid of strings he's making. "Virgil? What happened?"

 

Virgil shakes his head. "Logan closed his door on me." he mumbles, sinking into a chair next to Nico.

 

"Why would he do that!?" Roman was concerned something wasn't right and he didn't like it.

 

"I don't know..." Virgil says quietly.

 

"Nemo left earlier too... Almost... Like he was... Jealous?" Nico questions.

 

"Let's see if I'm getting this straight. Patton has a crush on you, Nemo is Jealous, and Logan shut you out. Something isn't right." Roman voice boomed "PATTON CAN YOU COME IN HERE!"

 

Patton runs and makes his way back to the door. "Roman is something wrong?"

 

Virgil looks up at him, still fighting tears. "Patton, what happened?" Nico grips Virgil's hand.

 

Patton heart broke when he saw Virgil on the break of tears. "You talked to Logan, didn't you?" Patton comes in and sits down next to Virgil.

 

Virgil nods slowly. "Tried. He closed the door on me."

 

"Don't take it personally. He just numb right now. We had to switch emotions, so I wouldn't go numb."

 

Virgil bites his lip and nods. Nico frowns and moves to share the chair with Virgil and hug him. Virgil turns and buries his face into Nico, clinging to him.

 

Roman frowns then look at Patton. "So, you don't have a crush on Virgil."

 

"Oh, heavens no, but holy smokes does Logan. He loves you so much kiddo." Roman smiles.

 

"Oh, do tell Patton. How much does Logan love Virgil?" Patton looks at Roman and sees what he is doing.

 

"So much like I don't know how he stays calm around you. I'm just so fluster being near you. You make his heart sore and your just so darn cute. Logan loves your smile it brings so much joy to him and your laugh he could listen to it for hours. He's so proud of you on how far you have come.He loves how brave you have beenand feels so safe around you like nothing will hurt him. He feels like he can be himself without judgement when he is with you. He just wants to hold you and never let go. He loves you so, so much." Patton’s face is red after spilling Logan heart to Virgil. It felt really good to get that off his chest.

 

Virgil blushes deeply and hides his face in his hands. "Thanks." he mumbles with a smile, heart racing. Nico laughs.

 

"Aww kiddo I didn't mean to embarrass you." something Patton would say in a cheerly tone, but it came out as more of a jokey mocking tone. Logan must like to pick on Virgil sometimes. "Logan finds you blushing to be adorable" Patton says keeping with the same tone.

 

Roman laughs "I didn't take Logan to be such a romantic. I'll never doubt the logical side again."

 

Virgil squirms, really wishing he could just hold Logan right now. Still, it was good to know these things. Now he knew how to tease Logan even more. He smirks. "Thanks Pat." he says, removing his hands from his still very flushed face.

 

Nico gets up and moves back to his chair. He glances over at Roman, gazing at him soft and lovingly. He wants to just hold him and comfort him and make all the bad memories go away. But he can't. So, for now he'll wait for him. He'll wait for his love. And he'll help him.

 

Patton smiles "Anytime Kiddo" he looks around. "Where did Nemo go?"

 

Nico looks over and frowns. "He left. He... Seemed kinda... Jealous."

 

"Oh no, I'll be back" Patton gets up and leaves.

 

Nemo is in his room, screaming and crying into his pillow. He really shouldn't have come here, but in the moment, it felt the safest. _'He doesn't love you anymore. He hates you. He loves Virgil more than you. You heard him say it. Logan loves Virgil more than he loves you. What's that supposed to mean?'_ He continues sobbing, muffled by the pillow pressed firmly against his face, rocking himself. Why does love hurt so much?

 

Patton knocks on his door before opening it. He sees Nemo on his bed and he walks in. "Nemo, it's ok." He sits on the side of his bed and rubs his back. "What's wrong?" Nemo cries harder at his touch.

 

 _'So weak. This is why he doesn't love you.'_ his room echo’s.

 

"Nemo look at me" Patton picks up his face and moves it towards him wiping away his tears. "You are not weak, and I do love you. Deep down I know my love is for you. The problem is that I don't have my love. I have Logan’s. My love for Virgil is fake, you know how its fake? You heard my thoughts, right? So, you were hearing lies. Lies because I know what I'm feeling is fake, it's not mine. Do you understand?"

 

Nemo’s breathing begins to steady, and he nods. He leans closer and hugs Patton’s waist, laying his head in his lap. “ ‘M srry...”

 

"It's ok." Patton looks at the clock. "I'll be back to my normal self by the morning." He pets his scales. "We should get out of here don't you think?" Nemo sighs and nods. Patton picks him up and goes into the hallway. "Do you want to go to Roman room or would you like to go somewhere else?"

 

Nemo curls up under Patton's chin and thinks for a moment. He shakes his head. "Your choice."

 

"Alright my room." Patton carries Nemo to his room and sits on his bed. He looks around a sees a snake plushie. He smiles and picks it up handing it to Nemo. "feeling better?" Nemo holds the plushie close. He smiles and nods, gesturing for Patton to lay down next to him.

 

Patton looks at his closet seeing the empty shelf. He feels angry. _'stupid'_

 

Nemo grabs his arm and pulls him down on top of him. He huffs and rolls Patton to lay next to him, then wraps around him. "You're not stupid. You were doing what you thought was right, what would help."

 

Patton sighs having all of Logan's feeling isn't all good. _‘Logan mad at me.’_ He holds onto Nemo. "Ok" he still feels bad at himself.

 

Nemo cups his face and kisses him gently. After a bit, he pulls back. "I love you... I want you to love you too."

 

"That's not the problem..." _'Logan mad at me'_

 

Nemo sighs. He really doesn't have an answer for that. He holds Patton closer and strokes his hair. "He'll get over it. He's been a pain the last few days..."

 

Patton buried his head into Nemo chest. "I don't blame him. I've been a pain." _'Patton shut up you’re just going to make him mad at Logan.'_

 

"No. I was already mad when he took you. I was mad at Virgil because he wouldn't let me go after you two." He nuzzles Patton's hair. "It just felt like everything and everyone was keeping me away from you..." he says sadly.

 

"I was hurting you, it was for the best." Patton sighs "I'm going to stop talking now. I'll talkto Logan later."

 

"Okay..." Nemo shivers and pulls a blanket up over them. "N'ght..." he mumbles sleepily.

 

"Night" Patton sighs.

 

Roman looks at Nico nervously. He was happy that his tongue had finally heal and he could talk normally. "Nico..."

 

Nico glances up from the bracelet he was working on. "Ya?" He asks softly, setting the project down. "What is it, my love?" Virgil left the room a while ago.

 

"I want to try touching to you. If that is ok with you." Roman asked nervous his heart pounding, but he ignores it.

 

Nico looks at him carefully, thinking it over for a moment. "Are you sure?" he asks gently.

 

"I want to try." He stretches out his hand. Nico gets up and carefully takes it, slowly walking closer.Roman pulls his hand away. "Sorry..."

 

Nico backs up. "No, it's okay." He sits back down, still watching Roman.

 

"I want to hold you..." Roman whispers.

 

"I know, I do too, but we have to take it slow." Nico says softly. "I'll wait for you, don't worry." He grasps his necklace.

 

Roman holds his necklace. "I love you"

 

"I love you too." Nico says, smiling at Roman. He picks up the bracelet and finishes it, then hands it to Roman. Red, white, gold, silver, orange, yellow is braided together.

 

Roman takes it and puts it on. "Thank you I love it."

 

Nico smiles and nods. "I'm glad." He lays his head back and closes his eyes. "Hey, you want to watch something? A movie maybe?"

 

"Sure, your pick." Roman smiles at him as he plays with his new bracelet.

 

"Okay." Nico says, getting up and moving to a bookshelf with movies on it to look through them. He glances behind him and looks around the room. "Can you conjure a TV?" he asks.

 

Roman snaps his fingers and a flat screen shows up. "Easy"

 

Nico smiles and continues looking through the movies. "What about Beauty and the Beast?"

 

"Excellent choice my love." Roman summon popcorn.

 

Nico puts it in and walks back to the chair. He looks at it a moment, then glances at Roman sheepishly. "Can I have a loveseat?"

 

Roman snaps his fingers and Nico Chair turns into a red loveseat. "Is that better?" He smiles at him.

 

Nico smiles and nods, sitting down. "Yes, thank you." He lays down on it, pulling his cloak closer to himself. His mind drifts a bit as they watch the movie. "You know what I never understood?" He thinks out loud.

 

“What's that?" Roman asks now only half paying attention to the movie.

 

"I still never found out how I sometimes couldn't see you or the others. Like... I could sense you there, but you were invisible..." He watches the screen as Belle makes her way down the stairs in a beautiful silver dress.

 

"Oh that, for some odd reason you can't see yellow."

 

Nico gives him a look. "But... Sunflowers are yellow... right?"

 

"Yeah they are, so that doesn't make sense for why you see those but not anything else." Roman thinks for a second "What color is a banana?"

 

"Umm... gray?" Nico looks confused. "Why?"

 

Roman thinks and looks at the movie. "What color is Belle’s dress?"

 

"Silver. Is this a test?"

 

"Nico both of those things are Yellow. You are color blind" Roman frowns.

 

Nico blinks. "But- Sunflowers!?"

 

"I don't get it either, maybe sunflowers are special or something."

 

Nico leans and grabs a sketchbook off Roman's desk. He opens it to the drawing of the sunflower Roman made earlier. "This is yellow." He says, pointing to it like a child learning colors for the first time.

 

"Yes" Roman confirmed.

 

"Can I see the yellow pencil?" Nico asks, looking up at Roman.

 

Roman looks over to his pencils and picks up the yellow and shows it to Nico. "You tell me"

 

"Gray." Nico huffs, growing frustrated. "I don't understand!?"

 

"I don't get it either. You see yellow sunflowers, but any other yellow objects are gray. Also, if one of us are in yellow you can't see us. This is weird, no one else is color blind."

 

Nico sighs. "Well... I'm not exactly one of you, now am I?"

 

Nico sighs and lays his head down on the arm rest. "Okay..." he goes back to watching the movie, fingers playing with his necklace.

 

Roman returns to the movie and later falls asleep.

...

Logan sat at his desk, he had been nonstop working sense he brought Patton back. Well there was that one distraction for Virgil, but he digresses. He's been working for almost 2 hours now. Looking up how to weaken depression. He came with a lot of good tips that he will share with Thomas at another time. He was about to click on another website when he blinks. He takes a gasps and coughs "Looks like it's over now." Logan felt weird, getting your emotions snap like that felt like whiplash. He gets up from his desk and stretches. "Well at least I got a lot done...VIRGIL. Oh, I close my door on him. He thinks Patton likes him and I threw him out. I need to apologize." Logan leaves his room and heads to Virgil’s. He knocks on the door. "Virgil are you in there?"

 

There's no response. Virgil is curled up on his bed, sleeping and clutching one of Logan's ties.

 

Logan sighs he looks at his watch. "I guess it is late. Goodnight Virgil, I'm sorry." Logan starts to walk back to his room when he stops in front of Romans he slow opens the door to check on him. He sees Roman and Nico sleeping in two separate couches. Logan closes his door and goes over to Patton’s. He opens and finds Patton and Nemo sleeping in Patton bed. He closes the door and finally goes to his room. He crawls into bed and slowly goes to sleep. He will apologize in the morning to Virgil and Patton.


	16. Chapter 16

_Fear. Screams. Panic. Lies. Lies. Lies._

 

Nemo's eyes suddenly shoot open, but he remains on the bed, paralyzed.  _'Nico... He... He_ _violated him... He hurt him. Oh, Roman. Roman, how did you survive? How are you not still freaking out?'_

 

He glances beside him and sees Patton, fast asleep. He carefully frees himself and slowly makes his way out of the room. He quietly closes the door, feeling a bit more freedom in the hall. He walks to Roman's door and pauses. He places a hand on it and sighs. 

 

He opens the door and makes his way to Roman. He makes sure the other is asleep before slowly and lightly placing a hand on the prince's forehead.  _'I have to do this._ ’ He determines.  _'I can't leave them to suffer.'_  His heart races as he closes his eyes. It takes him a bit to find them, but soon he's gently tugging the bad memories away, replacing them with a haze. Roman slowly relaxes.

 

Nemo leaves Roman and moves to Nico. He gently places his hand on the other's forehead, removing what Nico has remembered so far of what happened while he was under Depression's control. He steps back and looks over the two of them. They'll still remember the encounter. They'll still remember hurting and being hurt. But hopefully, the memories won't be as scary. Hopefully, this will help them to cope. He quietly leaves the room and goes downstairs. He goes into the kitchen and starts a pot of coffee.

 

Hours later Roman wakes up. He looks around he feels weird. He looks at the couch he just spent the night on. He remembers changing his bed into the couch but doesn't know why he did. He snaps his fingers and the couch changes back into a bed. He looks over to Nico _'Why didn't I sleep with him last night?'_ Roman shakes his head and goes over to him. He picks him up his heart racing a little from the touch and quietly moves him over to his bed. He makes sure not to wake him as he tucks him in. Roman smiles then leaves his room and goes downstairs.

 

Nemo hears someone coming down the stairs. He looks over from leaning against the counter with a cup of coffee in his hands. "Oh. Roman. How do you feel?" He asks, mildly nervous, given he pretty much just robbed the other, but he conceals it.

 

"Fine, how are you? You're up early." Roman smiles at him "Is there coffee for me?"

 

Nemo nods and sets his mug down, then pours one for Roman and hands it to him. He shrugs. "I had a few naps yesterday. Half snake plus winter equals cold and sleep." He says with a laugh.

 

Ah I could conjure some blankets for you, you know." Roman sips his cup. "How's Patton? Is he still in love with Virgil?" Roman asks in a joking tone.

 

Nemo bites his lip and looks away, trying to not let it show how that hurt. "He said he'd be back to normal when he wakes up. Last I saw he was still asleep." He takes another sip of his coffee. "What about you and Nico? What did you two do last night?" He asks, testing Roman's memory.

 

"Good, he made me this bracelet" Roman shows it to him "Then we watch Beauty and the Beast, fell asleep on a couch. Not sure why I wanted a couch over my bed though." Roman shakes his head. "I guess it doesn't really matter, it was a nice couch." He sips his coffee.

 

“Hmm.” Nemo says, hiding a small smile. It worked.

 

"Oh, we did talk about his color blindness. It's so weird, Yellow is gray, except with sunflowers and if we wear yellow he just can't see us at all. How does that make any sense?”

 

“Huh. That’s odd. Have you spoken to Logan yet?” Nemo says, tensing a bit at mentioning Logan.

 

"Not yet" he looks at Nemo "Are you ok? Your acting weird." Roman asked with concern.

 

“Ya, I’m fine. I just finished shedding, so I might be a bit snippy, but it’s normal.” Nemo says, gripping his mug tighter. _‘Why? Why? Why? Nemo CALM DOWN!’_

 

"Ah well if there is anything I can do to help let me know." He sips his coffee.

 

Nemo nods. “I will.” _‘No, you won’t. Shut up._ ’ He sighs. “What do you think the others would want for breakfast?”

 

"Pancakes are a safe bet. Want some help? I'm not doing anything."

 

“Sure.” Nemo says with a smile, setting down his coffee and getting the ingredients.

...

Virgil wakes up, nose stuffy from crying last night. He feels a silky material on his fingers and pulls the tie closer, fresh tears threatening to spill. After a while he finally convinces himself to drag himself out of bed. He ends up laying on the floor, groaning. He gets up, still holding the tie and blanket, not bothering to clean up, and heads downstairs.

 

"Oh, Virgil good morning. Still upset about Logan?"

 

“No. Not at all.” Virgil says in a rough, sarcastic tone, flopping down on the couch. He forgot his phone. Great. Now he actually had to socialize...

 

Nemo gives him a concerned look. “Patton said it’ll be over when they both wake up.” He offers.

 

“Great.” Virgil responds, sounding the least bit interested.

…

 

_'It’s all my fault' 'You hypocrite' 'you are a fake' 'get out before I do' 'AHHHhhh! my arm...Patton why?' 'Logan? Logan wake up!' 'PLEASE DON'T HURT ME' **'PATTON STOP'**_

 

Patton wakes up with a start. He sits up and looks around. He sees Nemo isn't here. He tries to take a deep breath but starts crying. "Don't think, don't think"

…

Logan woke up with a mission. _'Need to apologize'_ Logan gets dress and heads down stairs. He spots Virgil on the couch and takes a deep breath. He walks until he is in front of him. His hands behind his back to hide his fidget hands. "Virgil, I believe I owe you an apology for my behavior last night." Logan try to stay calm but Virgil grumpy face he saw at the stairs made it hard.

 

“Ya, It’s fine. I’m over it.” Virgil says, hiding the old tie under his blanket and patting the spot next to him on the couch.

 

Logan sits down. "Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?" Logan knew he wasn't over it and he felt really bad about it. He couldn't stop his racing heart.

 

Virgil shrugs then sighs, pulling out the tie. “I know that wasn’t entirely you. It wasn’t your fault. He just... really hurt. I was scared, and you rejected me...”

 

Nemo partially listens in from the kitchen. He should probably check on Patton soon....

 

Logan pulls him into a hug "I am so sorry, I never wanted to hurt you. I love you so much." _'don't cry, come on your logic, logic doesn't cry.'_

 

Virgil clings to Logan, taking in a shaky breath. “I love you too.” He whispers. He lifts his head and pulls Logan’s chin down. “I forgive you.” He says before kissing him.

 

Logan kisses him back. He was so happy, this is why he starts using his feelings. He never wants to go numb again. He holds onto him. Virgil pulls away for air and lays his head on Logan’s shoulder contently. 

 

Nemo finishes with the pancakes and turns to head upstairs. “I’m going to go get Patton, I’ll be right back.” He says to Roman before leaving. He goes to Patton’s room and slowly opens the door. “Patton?” He sees Patton on the bed, crying. He’s there in an instant. “Patton? What’s wrong?” He asks softly, kneeling in front of the other and rubbing his leg.

 

Patton shakes his head "I'm sorry, I'm sorry"

 

“Shhh... breathe.” Nemo gets up and puts Patton’s legs around his waist, picking him up. He gently rocks him. “Shh... you have nothing to be sorry about.”

 

"I made Depression, I keep hurting Nico, I put myself into a coma. I hurt Thomas, I burn my hands, I almost made you numb, I, I-" He buries his face into Nemo shoulder.

 

“Shh. Honey stop.” Nemo says softly, stroking Patton’s shoulder. He suddenly feels tired. “Shh... none of that is true you know that.”

 

"Yes, it is, I remember. I almost kill you."

 

“Shh... stop, love you didn’t. You weren’t in control.” Nemo says, trying his best to reason with the emotional side.

 

"I don't want to hurt anyone..."

 

“I know, but pain is a part of love. It’s a sign of true love.”

 

Patton squeezes Nemo "I love you"

 

I love you too.” Nemo says. For a moment, he thinks about removing Patton’s memories too, but he shakes it off. His memories are too distant and complicated to remove certain parts effectively. “Roman and I made pancakes for breakfast.”

 

"How is Roman? Does he feel better?"

 

Nemo feels his heart start racing. “Ya, he’s doing a lot better.”

 

Patton looks up "Really? That's great Roman is always a fighter. I hope he doesn't push himself though. Don't want him to go into a panic doing something he not ready for, you know?"

 

“Ya. I don’t think he will.” Nemo says, hugging Patton a little tighter. “Come on, let’s go eat.” He says, carrying Patton downstairs.

 

Patton giggles as Nemo carries him. "You’re so strong."

 

Nemo blushes and sets Patton down in a chair next to his spot. Logan and Virgil are still cuddling on the couch as Roman sets the table. Virgil drags Logan over sits him down. He looks around. “Where’s Nico?”

 

"He should still be in my room. Here I'll go get him." Roman leaves to go upstairs.

 

"Well, he recovered quickly." Logan said once Roman was out of ear shot. Nemo nods, serving Patton a pancake, trying to hide his racing heart. Virgil gets a pancake for himself and Logan.

 

"I was thinking about easing Roman into touching. I'm a little worry that he is pushing himself to make us happy." Patton said as he butters his Pancake. 

…

Roman opens his bedroom door. "Nico, sunshine it's time to wake up."

 

Nico groans from under the covers. “Five more minutes, Ro...” he mumbles, burying himself further.

 

Roman puts his hands on his shoulder. "Come on, I made Pancakes!"

 

Nico sleepily cracks an eye open. “You? Cook?” He says playfully and sits up, yawning. He falls forward, head coming to resting on Roman’s chest. “Mmm... piwwow...”

 

Roman sighs and picks Nico up. "Alright sleep head let's go." Roman walks downstairs,Nico murmurs and sighs happily. 

 

Virgil looks up, surprised to see Roman carrying Nico. “Roman? Are you... feeling okay?”

 

Nemo glances up then looks back down, keeping his gaze on his plate. _‘I didn’t do anything. I don’t know why he’s suddenly better. I don’t know why he’s suddenly better...’_

 

Roman puts Nico down in his seat and sits down. "Yes, I'm fine. Why? Did something happen?'" Roman looked at them in confusion. Patton and Logan stay quiet a little surprised that Roman doesn't know what they’re talking about.

 

“Yesterday when Patton brought you back you were so touch sensitive we couldn’t come near you. You went into a panic attack from seeing Nico...” Virgil says.

 

Roman looked at Virgil. "I'm aware that Depression did something but not sure what he did now that I'm thinking about it."

Patton slowly turns his he'd towards Nemo. _'you didn't'_ he thinks studying Nemo face.

 

Nemo’s heart races but he keeps his breathing even. Years of practicing deceit, of lying his way around suddenly come back in that one moment. Nemo shakes his head slightly at Patton’s unasked question. “People are known to subconsciously remove traumatic events from their memory.” He points out. 

 

Virgil’s eyes narrow. “True...” he says, faintly feeling anxiety pulsing from Nemo.

 

Nico starts to wake up more. He shakes his head and pours himself a glass of orange juice. “I... actually don’t remember either. It was something terrible... and I felt horrible about it yesterday. But I don’t remember what ‘it’ is....”

 

"It's probably for the best." Roman said not really wanting to look into it. He picks up some pancakes and starts eating them. Patton slowly goes back to his food as well. Nemo feels even more tired now. He picks at his food. Virgil watches him carefully. “Are you lying or are you in shed?”

 

Nemo glances up surprised. “Just finished shed...” he says with a blush. Virgil smirks and goes back to his food. Still...

 

Nico leans his head on Roman’s shoulder. “Shleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeepah...” he mumbles.

 

"Why are you so tired? We did even stay up that late." Roman pet his head.

 

"Well, last night I found some things that can potentially weaken Depression and keep him at bay, but we can talk about it at a later time. Patton, I do want to talk to you after breakfast thought." Logan gave him a Stern look. Patton frowns but nods his head.

 

"Ok Logan"

 

Nemo glares at Logan. Virgil glares at Nemo glaring at Logan. “Oh, Roman? Tell Logan what you and Nico found out.” Nemo says.

 

"Oh! Right Logan, looks like our sleeping little friend here is color blind, but only to yellow. Unless it's a sunflower, yellow is gray, and we are invisible when we wear it." 

 

Logan looks at Roman. "Well that's...odd." he thinks about it. "He can see yellow sunflowers?"

 

"Yes"

 

"But nothing else?"

 

"Nope, he thought bananas we're gray." 

 

Logan nods. "I'll look into it." 

 

"Thanks Logan."

 

Nico mumbles in his sleep. “H’ppy sums’ine...” Virgil laughs quietly. Nemo feels himself slipping further and further to sleep.

 

"Alright that's it you’re going back to bed." Roman picks Nico up and starts carrying him away. "I'll be right back." Roman leaves.

 

Patton looks at Nemo. "Are you ok? You look really tired."

 

Nemo shakes himself awake. “Mmm, ya I’m fine.” He says, resting his head on his hand. He was beginning to wonder for himself if it was just shed and hibernation time, or if it was from erasing the memories. He shakes his head again. _‘I didn’t take their memories. They lost their memories. They lost their memories.’_

 

"No, your definitely tired come on your going back to bed too." Patton picks him up and starts carrying him away. 

 

"Patton" Logan started.

 

"We'll talk after I tuck Nemo in I promise. It will only take 2 minutes."

 

Nemo suddenly clings to Patton. “Don’t leave me.” He whispers. ‘ _WHAT IS GOING ON!? WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME!?’_

 

Virgil looks between the stairs and Logan. “Should I go or?”

 

"Something strange is happening." Is all Logan says before going into deep thought.

…

"Shh it's ok, everything is ok." Patton reinsure as he lays Nemo down in him bed. He tries to pull away.

 

“Nooooooooooo!” Nemo wails gripping Patton’s arm and slapping a hand over his own mouth in surprise.

 

Patton crawls into bed and starts cuddling with him. "Alright I'll stay." He pets his scales Hoping it will calm him down.

 

Nemo stops struggling and stares at Patton as the other pets him. He begins to blink with every stroke. His eyes soon slide closed against his will. “No...” he whispers before passing out.

…

Roman came down the stairs. "Alright Nico is back in bed" He looks around "Where is Patton and Nemo?

 

Logan is still in deep thought. Virgil glances at Logan and sees his ‘Sherlock stare’. He sighs. “Nemo was tired and acting weird, so Patton took him back to bed.”

 

"Ah I see, what's with Logan?" He points at Logan.

 

“Sherlock stare.” Virgil answers, rolling his eyes and going back to eating.

 

Roman sits down and starts eating. "So how long does the Sherlock stare last?"

 

Virgil shrugs. “As long as it takes to solve the problem.”

 

Roman eats his breakfast. Logan blinks "Nemo lie"

 

Virgil looks up. “What?”

 

"Nemo did erase Roman and Nico memories. He was acting nervous when he brought it up and his reasoning is flawed. If Roman really did forget his own trauma he would have done it when he first woke up not after going to bed again. It also shouldn't have affect Nico. So, in conclusion Nemo lie."

 

Virgil groans and puts his face in his hands. “He only used it once before on Patton when he was under Depression’s control... we still don’t know exactly how it affects him...”

 

"I'll have to ask him about it. Come to think about it we don't know if Patton has remembered anything yet?" 

 

"Did Patton and Nemo ever get back together?" Roman asked. 

 

"Oh yeah they did." 

 

"AND NO ONE TOLD ME!?"

 

“Whoops.” Virgil says with a smirk.

 

"UGH" He leans in his chair. 

 

"Patton should have been down by now. I'll go check on him." Logan gets up and heads upstairs.


	17. Chapter 17

Logan slowly opens Patton door. "Patton is everything ok?" Patton looks up at Logan. 

 

"Shh he’s sleeping." Logan nods and walks in closing the door behind him.

 

"Patton I still need to talk to you." 

 

"Nemo doesn't want me to leave." 

 

"Then we can talk here" Logan sits on the bed.

 

"Alright, just don't wake him up."

 

"Patton I'm-"

 

"Angry with me I know."

 

"Worry, Patton I was going say worry. What has gotten into you lately? You're always unbalance going from one side to the other. I'm worry, talk to me. Why did you bottle up your sadness?"

 

Patton sighs. "It started with Thomas break up. I didn't want to feel sad about it. So, I ignore it and that shelf appear and over time bottles start showing up. I try to use one of them once and it hurt so much."

 

"I know I did it for years." 

 

"Right sorry."

 

Nemo mumbles in his sleep. "R-Run..."

 

Logan and Patton look at Nemo. Logan grabs Patton arm. "Patton it might be wise to leave."

 

"But-"

 

"Patton better safe then sorry." Logan yanks Patton out of the bed.

 

Nemo groans and rolls over, still asleep.  _Liar. Liar. Liar._ He moans and turns the other way.

 

Patton sighs "See he fine, we're not in trouble."

 

Logan sighs. "Sorry I overreacted. Can we get back to the topic at hand Patton?" 

 

Patton sits back on the bed and massages Nemo head. "Okay" 

 

"Patton how did Thomas break up make you feel?"

 

"I felt lost, and I was so scare of the next one would just leave me." Logan nods 

 

"I think we all share that fear. I promise that we will never leave you." Patton nods his head.

 

"Thanks" Logan puts a hand on his knee. 

 

"I want you to keep telling us when you are upset ok?" Patton nods his head.

 

"Anything else bothering you?" Logan asked.

 

Nemo whimpers. "Ssshhhtap!" he says weakly. "P-Please..." he whines and throws a kick.

 

Patton frowns and turns to Nemo, he shakes his shoulder. "Nemo, Nemo wake up."

 

Nemo flinches and curls away from the touch. "P-please... 'm srry please stop noooooo!"

 

Patton shakes harder. "Nemo, Sweetie wake up please." Logan stand cautiously in case this goes south.

 

"N-No... nooo... sssssss..." Nemo suddenly stops moving or making noise. "I hate you." is barely audible.

 

Logan opens the door and grabs Patton his heart pounding. "Patton, I don't like this let’s go."

 

"But Logan-"

 

"No butts" Logan pulls Patton out the door.

 

"I hate you. I hate you. I hate you. So dumb. Wow. Good job. Like they're actually going to believe you... You're an idiot..." Nemo starts mumbling falsehoods, tears starting to flow down his face. 

 

He's captured bound something presses around his neck. A collar, a leash his mouth his moving. He doesn't even know what he's saying he listens in.  _Worthless. Liar. Don't feel. Conceal. They don't have to know. You're a burden._ He's crying harder now. He feels how each statement affects Thomas, how it knocks down his confidence just a little bit more. But he's trapped. It's using him. And there's nothing he can do. He's hurting them, but there's nothing he can do... A dark laugh echoes as he cries harder, getting lost in the numerous falsehoods, beginning to believe them. He wishes someone would come save him, prove to him he's not alone, point out all the falsehoods. Because right now, he's  _very_  alone.

 

Patton pull out of Logan grip and holds onto Nemo. "Patton careful" 

 

"SHUT UP LOGAN" Patton holds onto Nemo. "Nemo please, You're not an idiot. I love you so much. Listen to me, and only me. Ok sweetie. You are important, you are love and one of the smartest people I know. Listen to my truths. You are not a burden." Patton pets his hair.Nemo cries as the lies just become louder and louder.Patton looks at Logan "This isn't working. Nemo I'm sorry, please don't leave me. I'm here for you always."

 

Logan turns his head towards the stairs. "VIRGIL GET UP HERE!" 

 

Roman is still eating when he feels a sharp pain. "Ow, what the-" Roman pulls up his sleeve and sees that he is starting to bruise. Virgil's eyes widen, and he heads upstairs. Roman tries to follow Virgil but his legs give out and he falls over. _'Everything hurts'_

 

As soon as Virgil steps foot into Patton's room, he's met with a wall of anxiety. He falls to his knees, gasping, and drags himself out of the room, still trying to recover.

 

"YOU'RE AN IDOT! A FUCKING IDOT, THOMAS! YOU CAN'T DO ANYTHING RIGHT! YOU'RE HURTING THEM. YOU'RE HURTING YOUR FRIENDS! YOU'RE HURTING THE PEOPLE YOU LOVE! NO ONE LOVES YOU. HOW COULD THEY? YOU'RE A PIECE OF SHIT. YOU SHOULD JUST DIE." Nemo screams, eyes still closed.

 

 _'STOP! NO! I DON'T WANT TO HURT THOMAS! PLEASE STOP! IT'S NOT TRUE! NONE OF THAT-'_ A figure tugs sharply at the collar and Nemo lets out a cry. It comes and places a hand on his cheek, lifting up his tear stained face. "Please..." Nemo begs, looking into the hollow eyes. The figure smirks and drops Nemo's head and walks away. Nemo continues to cry.

 

 _'We need Nico, he the only one who can control insecurities.'_ "Patton, we need-" Logan enters a coughing fit. He turns to face Patton who's crying on to of Nemo. He tries to speak but nothing comes out. _'I'm mute'_ he realized. He runs out of the room and enters Roman's.

 

Nico tosses and turns on the bed. "T-toxic... Can't trust your own mind... Run... No escape... Sleep... Never enough... Die?" he mumbles. Logan runs over and slaps him across the face. He wishes he didn't have to be so hard on him, but he can't use his voice and this needs to stop now. Nico screams and jumps away from the slap. He spins around and falls off the bed. He looks up at Logan in shock, hold his face. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR!?" He says, feeling insecurities rising up around him. What happened? What did he sleep through? Logan gives him a sorry look then grabs his arm and starts pulling him into the hallway. "What!? What's happen- ROMAN!" Nico tugs his arm away and runs to Roman's side. He lays a hand on Roman's shoulder.

 

He flinches at the touch. "Everything hurts." Roman is cover in bruises that he looks like he is turning black and blue. Logan looks sympathetic, but he doesn't have for this. He grabs Nico arm and continues to pull him away. _'Why are things getting fuzzy?'_

 

"ROMAN!" Nico fights against Logan's grip, but eventually stops, realizing Logan wouldn't drag him away for no reason. They pass by Virgil curled up on the ground. He hears screaming coming from Patton's room. They stand at the doorway and Nico sees Nemo screaming lies and Patton crying on top of him.

 

"THEY'RE LYING, THOMAS. THEY DON'T REALLY LOVE YOU, THEY'RE JUST SAYING IT. THEY CAN'T HELP YOU. THEY WON'T UNDERSTAND. NO ONE UNDERSTANDS. YOU'RE ALONE! ALONE! NO ONE CAN HELP YOU! YOU'LL NEVER DEFEAT DEPRESSION! YOU'LL NEVER ESCAPE! IT'S INEVITABLE! YOU. ARE. GOING. TO. DIE." 

 

Nico collapses to the ground, shaking. He breathes deeply, trying to collect himself. This is why Logan brought him. He thought he could control Nemo's insecurities. But he can't. Because they aren't insecurities. They're lies.

 

"It-it's too late." Nico whispers. "We... Have to let Thomas go... He has to escape the lies... He has to go numb..." A part of him knows that's wrong, that it's not the only way, but he can't bring himself to care or try at the moment. He just wants the screaming to stop.

 

Logan blinks and all he sees is black. _'I'm blind'_ he starts to panic. _'I don't want to disappear'_ he falls to the ground. He moves his arms around until he feel a jacket. He holds onto Virgil for dare life.

 

Patton cries "Please stop I don't want to lose them. I don't want to lose Thomas friends."

 

Nemo continues to cry. "Alone. Alone. Die..." he whispers.


	18. Chapter 18

Thomas didn't leave his house for the next three days. He just wandered about, or sat and stared at nothing, thinking of everything and nothing.

 

The mindscape turned bleak. Lifeless. Gray. And Nico was sure it wasn't because of yellow. In fact, it was almost as if the subscape had bled into the mindscape. He would sometimes catch glimpses of sides he'd never seen before, just before they disappeared. The others weren't doing any better. Roman wasn't creative during those three days, and if he was it ended up romanticizing death. Logan couldn't speak or see and refused to leave Virgil, which only clouded logic more and led to irrational answers. Virgil stayed in his room with Logan where his anxiety fed itself. Patton cried all the first day until he went numb. That's when things started turning gray. And Nemo... Nemo wandered aimlessly around, whispering lies that all of the sides could hear. It was so consistent that no one, not even Logan, not even Nemo himself, could tell the difference between truth and lie. There was no difference. There was no such thing as truth or lie. It was all statements. Facts. Opinions.

 

Even when someone says something nice to or about Thomas, Nemo quickly counters it. And even if his counter argument is so dumb, so incorrect, Thomas still believes it. He believes the lies more than his friends. There's comfort in the lies. They promise to keep him safe from pain. From heartache. Numbness promises him nothing will hurt him again. And that is true...

 

Logan didn't want to let go of Virgil. He was scare that he did he wouldn't be able to find him again. He can't even hear him anymore, Logan went deaf yesterday. _'I’m going to disappear. Thomas won't have logic anymore. I have failed.'_ Logan holds Virgil tightly.

 

Virgil clings to Logan. He knows he's drowning him, but he can't stop. He's scared of letting go.

 

Patton was downstairs drinking coffee. He thought it would be safer than baking but honestly what was the point?

 

Nico sits on his bed in his room. The shadows creep around, whispering things to him, but he can't hear them. He can't hear anything except what Nemo says. Nico sighs and lays back down, not feeling like dragging himself out of bed today. What's the point? No one needs him. There's nothing he can do.

 

Nico's hand reaches up to grasp his necklace. He takes it off and holds it up for him to see better. His eyes take in the way the dim light of his room reflects of the gem in the center. He twists the chain through his fingers, closing his eyes. It's comforting. He opens his eyes again and looks at the necklace, thinking of Roman. He wants to cry, but there's nothing there. But he needs to see him. He feels a hope fill him and takes a bit of pride in the small victory. It's a first step. 

 

He gets up and walks out of his room, down to Roman's. He summons a sunflower and knocks on the door before peaking in. "Roman?"

 

Roman room is a mess and lights are dim. Roman lays on his bed. He looks weak his wounds only getting worst. He turns his head and sees Nico he gives a small smile. "Nico love, come in."

 

Nico steps in and gently closes the door. He steps closer to Roman and gently places the sunflower in his hair. “I love you.” He whispers. “Even if I can’t feel, I know I love you.”

 

"I love you too." Roman frowns, he hesitates "Nico I'm dying."

 

“You’re not dying...” Nico says slowly, not quite believing himself. He sighs. “You feel shackled. Suffocated...”

 

"I might as well be dead. We can't keep doing this. We won't survive if this continues. Someone needs to shut Nemo up or get him to say positive things. Something anything."

 

Nico nods. “That won’t happen until Nemo lets Thomas open up. Which... will only happen when the emotions become too strong... meaning...”

 

"You need to get Patton feeling. He emotions it can't be that hard. I would help but I'm incapable of moving. You got this, I believe in you." Roman gives him a warm smile.

 

 _‘Can’t be that hard. Ya right.’_ Nico sighs and gently kisses him. “I’ll try.” He gets up and leaves, going to Patton’s room. He looks around and grabs a photo album, then heads out looking for him. He goes downstairs and finds Patton in the kitchen. “Hey.” He greets him.

 

Patton sips his coffee. "Hey"

 

Nico sets the photo album down and pours himself the rest of the coffee. He comes and leans against the counter next to Patton. “How are you?”

 

"The usual, numb. I don't know how Logan manage to do it for years. It sucks, but I don't care to fix it. What's the point ya know?"

 

Nico nods and flips open the photo album to a picture of all of them, laughing. “This is the point.” He says, letting Patton see it and think on it.

 

Patton looks at the picture and sighs "Look around, those times are gone, Depression won." Patton stares at the picture.

 

Nico grips Patton’s shoulder. “No, that is a lie Depression has not won. Depression has won when Thomas is dead, but he’s not. We still have a chance. Remember what Logan said? About having felt periods of happiness and fulfillment and that it’s not unreasonable to believe you’ll feel it again?”

 

"We will also feel sadness. I'm tired of being sad, I'm tired of feeling guilty. Depression is eating me alive." Patton sighs as he flips the page. "Guess I deserve it, I did create Depression after all."

 

Nico tilts Patton’s chin to look at him. “Feel the sadness but feel the joy as well. It takes both to make you human. You did not create Depression. You do not deserve pain.”

 

Patton pulls away. "It's going to hurt."

 

“I know. But after every fire there’s new growth. After every storm there’s a rainbow.” Nico rubs Patton’s arm.

 

Patton looks at the picture again. It was a new family picture with Nico. Everyone was happy with their boyfriends. He missed that, he wanted it back. He moved over to Nico side of the counter and pull Nico into a hug. "Hold me" and he starts crying.

 

Nico holds him tight and pets his hair. “There you go... Just let it out.” He soothes.

 

Patton cries harder "I want my family back."

 

“Shh... We’re right here. We’re always here.” Nico says, swaying them slightly.

 

Patton continues to cry "I want to seek help, Thomas needs help. I don't care what Nemosays, what Depression is making him say. I know that Thomas's friends would help."

 

Nico nods. “Then make Thomas cry. Get him to get help.”

 

"I will" Patton holds onto him tight. "I will"

 

Thomas is sitting at his widow he starts crying. He wants his friends he picks up his phone but he too scared to call them. "What if they don't want me?"

 

_‘Shh... breathe, Thomas. They love you.’_

 

Thomas takes a deep breath and speed dials Joan. Everything is telling him to hang up, but he stays strong. Joan picks up the phone before he could get a word in Thomas cries. "Joan, I need your help."

 

“Thomas? What’s wrong?” Joan says worriedly.

 

"I-I have depression and I can't take it anymore."

 

Joan stays silent for a moment. 

 

 _‘THEY HATE YOU! THEY HATE YOU!’_ Rings in Thomas’s mind. 

 

“Hold on, I’ll be right there.” Joan says. “Hold on for me. I love you, Thomas.”

 

"I love you to Joan. Please stay on the phone with me. I can't take the silence anymore."

 

“Okay, I will I’m getting in the car right now. I’ll be there in about 10 minutes, okay?”

 

Thomas holds his knees up. "Okay" he takes a deep breath "Okay" _'They don't hate me, they don't hate me'_


	19. Chapter 19

Virgil feels himself begin to relax. He softens his grip on Logan and for the first time in days, he can take a deep breath. The screaming quiets down. Logan doesn't know what is happening, but he still feels Virgil. He takes his hand and taps it on Virgil chest using hand sighs he spells _'I-L-O-V-E-U'_.

 

Nemo falls to his knees. He cries, loudly his mouth finally stops moving. The lies finally stop Thomas is finally getting help. He sobs into the carpet. It’s so painful, but so freeing. To finally be allowed to cry. To finally stop lying. Roman feels a sense of pride to finally be able to tell Joan about it. He still hurts like hell, but he has hope and that is all he needs right now.

 

Nico holds Patton, smiling and rubbing the other’s back. “Good job. You did it.” He says softly.

 

Patton smiles he still crying, it still hurts but he feels a small amount of happiness, he feels hope. He holds onto Nico and laughs. "We won"

 

Nico holds him protectively. “Yes, yes, we did.” He smiles. _‘We won.’_

...

Over the next few months, Thomas became more open and honest about how he was feeling. He took some time away from social media, and his fans graciously accepted. 

 

There were times when he relapsed, when the lies became too much, when he couldn’t feel. But his friends were always there to pull him out. They reminded him that they love him. That they were there for him. That they wouldn’t leave him. 

 

And slowly, he got better. Slowly, Depression’s grip got looser and looser. And he smiled. He smiled genuinely for the first time in a long time. 

 

The mindscape became more peaceful. Everyone was happier. Secrets were outlawed. They all helped to fill Patton in on the three weeks he forgot. They were a famILY. And nothing, not even Depression, could tear them apart.

 

Not without a fight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that is all folks! Me and Space had a lot of fun making this and I hope you had fun reading it. We started this project on Oct. 4 and we have now finished on Oct. 27. It's been a fun month and we plan to keep writing together. This story was about Depression if you couldn't guess. If you have it, please seek help. I know it hurts right now and you feel alone, but we promise you're not. Many people are in the same boat as you, you are never alone. Stay safe we hope you have a great day and happy reading.-Terra.
> 
>  
> 
> Like Terra said, you are not alone. It may feel like no one loves you, but trust me, they do. I know it’s scary, but you have to be honest about how you feel. First to yourself, and then to others. It’s okay to not be okay. There is nothing wrong with you for not being okay. There is nothing wrong with you. You and how you feel is valid. Stop telling yourself you shouldn’t feel this way. Stop letting others tell you that you shouldn’t feel this way. Just sit. Breathe. And stay alive. I love you. -Space
> 
> “One foot in front of the other. You got this, kiddo. I’m rootin’ for ya.” -Patton


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